


Treasured Planet

by rosesofenvy



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: 'shipwrecked', Gen, Treasure Planet AU, realtionships still pending, slight tuckington, the title is stupid im trying to think of a better one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-03
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-02-11 15:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2072679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosesofenvy/pseuds/rosesofenvy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tucker is a somewhat delinquent living with an asshole and an idiot. Both with a knack for doing whatever the hell they want whenever the hell they want.Tucker is bored nearly 24-7; getting caught 'trespassing' by the local authorities isn't very entertaining. When his scientist 'friend' Simmons says he might've found a new planet, he readily accepts the offer given to him to join the man on a field mission. Within a few weeks Tucker's on a hired ship  with a skilled crew with an even more skilled Captain.<br/>However on the way there, they find themselves being attacked by an unmarked ship for unknown reasons.<br/>What the hell have they gotten themselves into.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Sorry I didn't get this up sooner but I had to take a few days to rewatch the movie and start planning things out! Basically this is based off of Treasure Planet but I'm not following the direct plot of the movie. The tumblr user nedditrix wanted a RVB Treasure Planet au and it sounded fun so I offered to write it! Chapter two should be up soon.

 

Tucker huffs as he jerks his arms out of the grip of the 'disciplinarian' and brushes past Simmons glare. He can hear the scientist start to give some bullshit explanation as he wanders into the mans kitchen, frowning at the slim pickings and waiting for his friend to return from the talk the authority was probably giving him. It takes a good few minutes before the redhead returns, looking frazzled as he shoots Tucker an evil look.

"Again with the trespassing Tucker? I thought you were done with that?" Simmons growls, crossing his arms over his chest as Tucker tries not to avoid eye contact.

"I wasn't trespassing! The sail just sort of took me over the private property construction site!" Tucker defends, matching Simmons glare easily.

"Oh I'm sure you expect Church to buy that excuse too," Simmons says sarcastically, rolling his eyes and turning away, a silent 'when he gets back' being left unsaid as he continues speaking, "You should probably stay here until I can 'escort you back' as the guy put it. Just let me finish writing this paper then we can leave."

Tucker groans but doesn't give a more verbal answer, following Simmons to the man's research room to start looking at the newest papers written, aka the ones on the tops of the piles.  
   
Most of the place is just a jumble of papers, but there are a few splotches of colour belonging to a few planetarium diagrams holographically projected against the wall. He quizzes himself mentally on the few planets he could see before skimming over the most recent papers Simmons had placed on the pile.

A few on the supernova's that are occurring more often, one on the advances of recent technology, and another on a large scale map of how time could be affected by certain devices. Boring stuff basically.

After (too damn long), Simmons seemingly gets fed up with his hovering and leaves his paper unfinished to take Tucker back to the shared apartment where Caboose should still be. Tucker had left the idiot with the robotic caretaker that, although named Phyllis, Caboose called Sheila. Of course, there was always Sarge a few apartments away (although Tucker doubted the man would ever bother checking on Caboose if anything did come up.) Either way, Simmons takes him as far as a few blocks away before ordering him out of the carriage-like vehicle.

Tucker stares up at the ever more cloudy sky, scowling at it as if it was to blame for the encroaching boredom. Church had left with his girlfriend about two weeks ago to help her with whatever whacked project she was dealing with, leaving Tucker to watch Church's roommate (technically his too but he won't really admit that).

  
The building isn't smoking so that's a good sign, he thinks as he approaches their apartment complex, mentally preparing himself for the next few hours with Caboose as he begins heading toward the "express elevator" that slingshots him to his floor at the tap of a holographic button. The entire floor is silent, even better news. 

Tucker requests to be let in, thanking the door for opening (the last few times it had been stubborn) and entering the blissfully silent apartment. He almost wonders if Caboose is even here before he notices him laying on the couch fast asleep with a small mechanical dog half assembled on his chest. Sheila powers up, the robotic unit rolling toward him with her glowing gold eyes.

"Greetings TUCKER, CABOOSE is sleeping on the couch, and a lunch has been prepared for you. CHURCH has also left a message, would you like me to play it?" She asks primly, her robotic voice seemingly emphasizing their names for no reason.

"Yes Sheila, play message," Tucker says over his shoulder as walks into the kitchen, finding the lunch sitting on the counter where Sheila usually leaves it. The robotic unit follows him back, voice echoing more in the plastic room.

"Playing message."

"Hey Tucker, so I should be back sooner than I planned because Tex says there isn't much more I can help with, I'll probably be back in a few days alright? Oh, and Tex says 'tell the cockbites hello' so that's a hi from her."

Tucker snorts as the message ends, expecting that sort of 'greeting' from the Captain of one of the finest ships out there. He didn't know much about Church and Tex, but he did know that she was a sort of mercenary, with her own small ship  and  in cahoots with another Captain, some other chick that has her own ship and crew, going out and gathering various technological gear from all different planets. Oh, and that they all have rad helmets, Church managed to convince Tex to get him and Caboose their own.

Apparently everyone on the other girls crew, he faintly remembered the name Carolina being mentioned, is wicked talented, and she has one official co-captian and a few other guys to help maintain the place. Tucker hasn't been given alot of information, something about confidentiality, but he does know that much.

With Caboose asleep (hopefully for awhile) Tucker decides to work on his solar board, he'd unfortunately damaged it a bit in the last jaunt he took. He wasn't as good at repairing the mechanics like Sarge or Caboose, but he can at least deal with basic stuff. As far as he can tell, all he needs to do is make a few basic patches so that it's fully functional, simple stuff.

He finishes that too quickly, and it's still too early to try and sleep, what few rays of sunlight that slip through the clouds are landing directly on his face. Instead of making his way upstairs, he just leans back on the workbench, avoiding any dangerous objects as he begins to daydream.

This planet is so boring, once he was old enough he gathered all his money in a one way ticket to meet up with his 'friends', which he quickly found that they oftentimes just take off, usually with no warning. It's always terrifying when Caboose does it. He manages to make some money with repairing some solar boards, maybe even building a few, but he mostly depends on Church.

He wonders what Church is up to, he knows that he helps Tex with repairs and weapons but doesn't know much else. The older never really explained what he does for a living.

Tucker thinks about what it'd be like being in a ship, solar sails capturing the suns rays as they head toward a distant planet, mock fights on the deck of a ship. It's always been a thought at the front of his mind, being on a ship like that. Sometimes riding a solar board just couldn't be enough to get that rush of adrenaline. And that's all he had, a solar board anyway. Tickets for riding on a ship, be it to a nearby planet or just for a 'joyride' were ridiculously expensive.

A high pitched ringing noise assaults his ears suddenly, and he winces as he turns toward the door, the sound cutting off as Sheila enters, gold eyes shifting to blue as she rolls to a stop.

"Call from SIMMONS, accept?" She asks dully, metal arms clinking as she presses them flat to her sides. A blinking countdown leaves him time to debate whether or not to accept, which he decides to because it's probably something stupid.

"Accept," Tucker states.

"Accepting call from Simmons."

"Tucker! About damn time, ok listen, I think I found something, maybe a new planet but I'm not sure, if not a new planet then a barely explored planet because it's not recorded in any of the databases, and I've checked all of them," Simmons says quickly, sounding excited as he ignores Tucker's interrupting questions to continue rambling, "It's not that far away and I've already planned out a map and everything, a few weeks trip total to see if it's undiscovered and to do some field research."

"Hold on a second Simmons! Why're you telling me all this?" Tucker inquires, sitting back against the bench again.

"Because you're definitely coming with me, you've been getting in too much trouble lately and I know it's because you're bored, I'm going to start making the crew calls tomorrow, get a ship and supplies ready, we should be able to leave within a few days."

Tucker still can't quite grasp what's happening, but he does realize that this means he won't have to sit around being bored anymore, "Ok, one, hell yes I'll do this, two, who all are you planning to bring?"

"Firstly Grif since he's my assistant, I don't really know about anyone else. Sarge is busy with his business, Donut is also busy, and I don't even know where Doc is. I'm planning to get a more high up crew to make sure we get safely to the planet and back, it's pretty far out there."

"How far we talking?"

"Dude, you can't see it from the Valhalla space station, that far out. A few days just to get into the same space as it far out. Dimensions are unclear far out-"

"Ok ok I get it! Really fucking far," Tucker interrupts, not wanting to listen to multiple comparisons from the scientist.

"Anyway, you should go ahead and pack for a few weeks, and I advise a few weapons at the least, unfamiliar land and all that."

"Yeah yeah got it, bye Simmons."

"Wait I need to explain a few more-!"

"Sheila end call."

"Ending call from SIMMONS," The robot obediently cuts off the call, eyes returning to their normal functioning blue. "What was the call about TUCKER?"

"Eh, stuff Sheila," Tucker replies vaguely, waving his hand absently as he swallows the last few bites of his sandwich and placing the plate in the sink, watching the automated arms briskly clean it before placing it on the shelf where it belongs.

"Ok TUCKER, would you like me to wake up CABOOSE so you may explain the call to him as well?"

"No!" Tucker replies, probably too quickly as he watches the robot stop in her gliding movements.

"No? Alright then, what should I do TUCKER?"

"Uh, power down Sheila," Tucker nervously watches the robot's eyes turn blank grey as a faint 'powering down' is heard from her. He sighs in relief and walks toward his room.

Luckily he didn't have to share with Caboose, Church had to deal that. Of course since Church really wasn't around much he didn't really have to deal with it. Tucker picks his way across the somewhat cluttered room to stop at his closet, digging out a bag and unloading the few weapons he keeps stored there. This planet was more apt to use weapons than his home one was, so he usually kept at least a small knife on him at most times, but he kept his guns hidden away.

Mostly from Caboose since that one incident where he shot himself in the foot, but that's a separate story.

Tucker takes apart a two of them, his pistol and rifle, before deeming them fit and finding their holsters and extra bullets in the bag as well. He checks to make sure the holsters will still fit before digging out another bag and beginning to pack a few things for the trip. He'd been on a field mission with Simmons before, but it was really only because Caboose had wanted to go and Simmons refused to let him go unsupervised.

Either way this was sure to be fun.  
  
At least, once they actually headed out.


	2. The Artificial Intelligence

  
A few days after Simmons informed him that he was going on a field mission, Church (finally) came home, the man seemingly just appearing around three am and waking Tucker up.  
  
"Yo I'm home!"  
  
"Church!" Caboose perks up like a dog hearing the word treat and dashes over to where the man is standing after, rudely, flipping on the overhead light. Tucker looks up to see Church nearly knocked over as Caboose wraps him in a bear hug. Then Tucker pulls the covers over his head.  
  
"Hey asshole, I said I'm home," Church yells, grinning as he yanks the blanket off of Tucker, causing the younger to roll onto the floor.  
  
"Yeah I heard!" Tucker snarks back, rubbing his head and snatching the blanket back. Church just keeps grinning, turning to pry Caboose from his side.  
  
"Its your fault for falling asleep on the couch, else I would've left you alone."  
  
"Suuure you would've," Tucker drawls, rolling his eyes as he glances at the clock, noting the time with disdain as he heads for his room, hoping that he'll be able to at least get a few more hours of sleep before heading over to Simmons's in the morning to see what ship they'll be taking. If everything's in order they're supposed to leave later in the night.  
  
"Wow Tucker, I figured you'd be more excited," Church says, raising an eyebrow at the youngers retreating back.  
  
"Ooh, ooh, I know why he's not that excited to see you! He's going with Mr. scientist on a ship!" Caboose says, looking almost childish as he jumps gleefully. Church looks interested at this, but Tucker closes the door firmly behind him, letting the lock click as he climbs into bed.  
  
Church shrugs and turns to Caboose, "What's he going with Simmons for, field mission?"  
  
Caboose looks unsure, "Well no he didn't really say, but probably yes definitely."  
  
Church turns to the closed door again, "Interesting."  


* * *

  
  
Tucker doesn't wake up until Sheila overrides his door locking system (damn everything being electronic) and wakes him with three missed calls from Simmons. Before he can even start listening to the voicemails left, Simmons calls again.  
  
"Accept call?"  
  
"Yes Sheila!" Tucker says after a glance at the time, it was nearing three, meaning he's seriously late.  
  
"What the fuck Tucker!" Simmons starts off by saying, "If eleven was the intended time  you're nearly four hours late dickweed!"  
  
"I know Simmons I'm getting dressed right now, Church kept me up last night, I'll be there soon. End call." Tucker says quickly, grabbing the nearest clothes and his (seemingly aqua but he's not sure of the colour) helmet. He slings his bags over his shoulder as well before running to the window where he propped his solar board last night. They'd modified their window (like alot of the tenants) so that they could either take off using their solar boards or get dropped off by ship (plus they could charge the boards if the person wasn't afraid of the risk of it being stolen.)  
  
Unfurling the sail once he's standing on his board, he activates the comm link in his helmet and sends a message to Church where he was going while deciding to take all of the shortcuts possible to the ship yard, meaning he's going to be taking some risks, a thing he loves to do.  Laying down the sail, he's able to slip between thin gaps in buildings, (barely) avoid air traffic, pass through a few restricted sites, before getting to the ship yard in under ten minutes.  
  
He's easily able to spot Simmons due to the combination of the man's height and shockingly ginger hair. Once he gets near enough he sees a maroon helmet tucked underneath the mans arm with a board leaning against his leg. Boards were the most common way of travel most recently, passing up the mechanical carriages that zipped from place to place within land and ground.  
  
"I would seriously strangle you if you didn't have everything ready to go," Simmons growls as he turns and starts walking towards the (apparent) ship. Tucker's mouth would've dropped open if he wasn't distracted by Simmons's assistant Grif snapping in front of his face, the short Hawaiian man looking annoyed as Tucker follows him up the slanted sheet of metal to the deck of the ship.  
  
A guy  in more casual clothing of loose orange shirt and jeanlike material (an older fabric since nowadays most people wear high tech stuff) is staring up at what appears to be the main mast, sails being unfurled as ropes are untied. Tucker follows the mans gaze to see a redhead in more formal clothing, complete with light blue armor gauntlets and thigh guards, jumping from one outcropping of wood to another to get the sails ready. As far as he can tell, there's someone else with distinctly blue clad person helping her on the other (smaller masts).  
  
Simmons walks over to the guy watching who, Tucker guesses, is their Captain.  
  
"Hello York, seems everything's ready to go," Simmons greets, the guy, York, smiling at him. As York turns, Tucker gets a look at one of his eyes, quickly realizing that it's a cloudy white, with circuits running through it and into scars on the side of his head. Part cyborg.  
  
"Yeah, Carolina's finishing the preparations with Florida, and Wyoming is with North at 479er's mercy to make sure all the systems are all online," York reports, gazing past the scientist to eye Grif and Tucker.  
  
"This is Tucker and Grif, the two joining me for the field mission," Simmons gestures to them each in turn, and York nods thoughtfully.  
  
"I see you've all got up to date helmet systems as well, that's good. Carolina will probably want to speak with you, which she's coming down now, I suggest taking a step back," York says calmly, moving out of the way as Carolina sails between them, releasing the rope she'd been gripping and sliding a bit on the metal floor before turning to York.  
  
"Check the status while I talk to these guys alright?" She orders before turning to them and waving towards the staircase leading below deck. "Shall we?"  
  
The three of them follow her without a complaint, although Tucker's mostly preoccupied with figuring out the ships operational systems, now he wishes he knew more about mechanics. The captain leads them into a room clearly made for her, complete with holographic charts and maps on one wall and a plethora of weapons on the other.  
  
"So you are the scientist who organized this mission correct?" She looks at Simmons, not really waiting for the response, "And these are your assistants Grif and Tucker."  
  
"Essentially yes," Simmons says, cutting off whatever Tucker was about to say.  
  
"As I thought, so we're going to travel out to one of the lesser explored places in the galaxy, you do realize...Should I call you Mr. Simmons? That sounds too formal though," Carolina huffs, leaning back against her desk as she tries to think. "I'll go with military titles then, Private Simmons, you do realize that the likelihood of anything major happening is increased out there. Supernovas as example are-"  
  
"-More than 67.83% more likely to occur and the route that I've figured would be best is plagued by solar storms, I do realize the risk," Simmons cuts in nodding as Carolina gives him a look.  
  
"Alright, at the moment my crew is short four people, they won't return for a few days so we will have continue without them and hope they catch up before we pass through the asteroid rings. You've met my co-captain York, and if you were paying attention to the space above your heads you would've seen that Florida was also helping me prepare the sails. You will likely meet North and Wyoming later."  
  
She gives them all another look, "Wyoming enjoys his jokes, don't indulge him. And the four that will soon join us will introduce themselves when they get here, right now we need to take off if we're going to avoid the other ships taking off."  
  
She strides past them, picking up a helmet from underneath her desk as she goes, "Oh and go ahead and secure your helmets, you'll need them to communicate until we get the environmental systems online."  
  
With that she heads out the door, giving orders through the comm link that had been set up in their helmets. Tucker can see that York and Florida had their helmets on as they set about to securing the solar boards to the sides of the deck to charge and keeping the sail ropes from whipping around everywhere. Tucker's impressed with how two people can keep up with so much.  
  
"479er are we set to sail?" Carolina's voice comes clearly through the headset, which Tucker assumes means she's broadcasting on a somewhat open channel.  
  
"That we are Captain, all systems are online and the induced environment will be prepared the moment we enter space," The pilot replies, her voice also coming through the comm link clearly.  
  
"Alright then, prepare for takeoff." Tucker feels the machine-like ship beneath him shift, the metal growing fractionally warmer  as the engines heat up. He grabs onto the thing nearest to him, an outcropping of wood from the mast. Simmons and Grif grip the doorframe leading to a higher point on the deck.  
  
Tucker grins, waiting anxiously for the ship to take off, if he had the opportunity he would've climbed the mast but the ship was already moving and it's too risky now. But he can still enjoy the takeoff from this point. He watches as lights pulse across the sails, a low humming reaching his ears as the entire ship powers on completely, rising from the space port out of distance from any other ships before beginning to speed along.  
  
"Take-off complete, environmental systems online, induced gravity also online," 479er lists as they speed away from the port. In only a few moments Tucker can't even see the place.  
  
"Alright, everyone on deck except for you 479er, keep us on track until the automatic systems can take over," Carolina orders,  emerging from wherever the hell she'd disappeared to with York close at her heels. Both of them remove their helmets once they get closer to Tucker, a motion that he follows when he notices.  
  
Two other people climb out of a hatch in the floor, that Tucker never would've realized was there if it hadn't been moved aside so that they could get out.  
  
"Everything's good, South also contacted me saying that they would be able to catch up with us within two days if  we stayed on course," North says, or at least Tucker assumes that it's North, the other seemed more like a Wyoming sort of guy.  
  
"Good, that'll be at least a day before we'll pass through the asteroid rings," Carolina nods in approval as she turns to Simmons. "We're addressing them with military titles for now because formalities are not really fit for a ship like this, Private Simmons will tell us the route we will be taking and then describe why we're making this journey."  
  
Simmons looks understandably nervous as he clears his throat, "Well first we're going to pass by the Valhalla space port, which is a day travel at the speed we're currently traveling at. Then we'll have to pass through the Supernova plains, before passing through the asteroid rings. After that we'll try to bypass the solar storms of the planet Dect, the planet I'm interested in is just a few days travel past that. The most dangerous place to pass through is the risk of encountering a black hole a days travel from the surface of the planet."  
  
"A black hole is our biggest worry? We'll be fine," York grins, sounding almost relieved as he leans easily back against the main mast where they'd met up.  
  
"No kidding, how worried are you captain?" North inquires, looking at the redhead that seems more serious than her co-captain.  
  
"Not really, as far as I've yet to locate the planet in any of my recorded maps, however there's supposed to be some abandoned airstrips nearer to it, I'm unsure of how that could affect our travels. There's also the natural risk of the supernova's which have increased in occurrence since a year ago. Other than that I don't see much of an issue," Carolina says, tapping a gloved hand against her leg.  
  
"We should easily be able to handle those instances though captain," Wyoming says, speaking for the first time. Tucker almost smirks at the distinctly European accent, this guy must be from that one Earth planet.  
  
"Naturally," Carolina replies with an absent wave of her hand, "For now we need to prepare for two days of clear travel, hopefully by that point CT will have met up with us and the crew will be complete again. " She glances over at Tucker and Simmons, then turns to York, "Show them where they will be sleeping for the time being, we will complete the rest of the post-takeoff actions."  
  
York doesn't protest, nearly smiling, as he starts walking towards the same doorway Carolina had lead them through. Once the four of them were out of earshot on everyone on deck, York grins.  
  
"Thank God, doing all the post take-off security is such a hassle, I'm glad she had me do this." He ruffles his hand through his hair with one hand, since the other is holding onto his helmet still. "As a quick word of advice, I'd keep you helmets nearby at all times, especially if you're going to leave the deck of the ship. If you climb three fourths of the way up the mast you pass  through the environmental barrier. "  
  
"Wait so I can ride my solar board right?" Tucker asks, hoping that he won't have to stay on the ship, no matter how interesting it might be, the entire time.  
  
"Sure, just make sure you can keep up, the AI can get up to pretty high speeds," York smirks, "The 'pilot' is called 479er, she's the one that makes sure we're still on track. She'll stay in the engine room most of the time, that's at the bottom of the ship. I should probably go ahead and tell you where everything is. So there's the engine floor, the maintenance floor, the living floor and the Captains floor that leas up to the deck of the ship, pretty simple. We're on the living floor if you couldn't tell."  
  
Tucker could tell because lining the hallway they're currently walking down are doors with labels on them, most with names but they stop in front of one blank one.  
  
"This is the guest room, the other guest room was made into a sort of weapons room. There's bunk beds though so there's enough room for you three. I guess don't sit around or anything, Carolina gets annoyed when someone's doing nothing. Breakfast will be around seven or eight, I think Florida's cooking tomorrow," York continues, opening the door for them. "There's extra commlinks on that table I think, you can keep one on you that way without having your helmet."  
  
"I guess see you guys in the morning, be careful not to fuck anything up," York says with a small wave as he begins heading back down the hallway, back up to the deck presumably.  
  
"Dibs on a top bunk," Grif says quickly, Simmons quickly echoing with Tucker muttering a curse under his breath.  
  
"Fine," Tucker grumbles, setting his helmet on the bottom bunk nearest to the door. Simmons stares contemplatively at the bunk above Tuckers head before gettin out his laprop from the bag on his back.  
  
"Damn, guess I'll  have to take a bottom bunk, signal sucks over there," He says to Tucker, the other man grinning from his splayed out position on the bed.  
  
"Sucks to suck!" Tucker says, but not moving from his spot, not really feeling like climbing up the short ladder to (what is now his) bunk.

* * *

  
  
Tucker can hear Simmons and Grif are asleep, but he can't force himself to follow the action. He's so antsy and full of energy, if had been home he would've snuck out of their apartment to take a night ride, but doing that while on a ship would be risky.  
  
He slides from the bunk, still being on the bottom one, to walk to the door. He knows its late, well technically early now, and everyone had basically everyone had gone to their rooms already. He had helped York check on the solar boards for a bit before the co captain had said they could head to bed.  
  
Tucker walks up to the deck, the ship gliding smoothly through space even as everyone's asleep. Tucker stares up at the stars, noting how much brighter they are than the dull planet he'd been staying on.  
  
Tucker leans back against the mast, tracking a few stars as they pass by. A sigh leaves him as he leans his head back more and closes his eyes.  
  
He has a feeling somethings going to go wrong.  



	3. Storms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: and up ahead you will see inaccurate descriptions of solar storms and headcanon based appearances because I couldn't find any.  
> Short chapter, I know, but I want to plan a bit more before posting the next ones.  
> I've drawn a few of the characters from this AU as well, namely Carolina, that I will try to get posted soon.  
> I may upload the next chapter sooner rather than later.  
> (May we all have strength for the next RVB episode.)

* * *

 

Tucker is shaken awake by York, who he's sure is smiling underneath his helmet.  
  
"Morning sunshine," York greets, "Time for chores."  
  
"Chores?" Tucker questions, popping his neck as he stands. It's a bit more difficult to tell time while traveling through space but he vaguely guesstimates it's early in the morning, too early to be up.  
  
"What did you think a ship like this does everything automatically? Today you'll be helping me until Carolina says otherwise. Eat breakfast then we're going to make sure the boards are charged."  
  
Tucker grins as he hurries to his shared room to change, seeing that Simmons is already awake and working on something on his computer, while Grif is still completely passed out. Tucker snorts as he changes out of his sleeping clothes, also sliding on shoes, without tying them, as he begins walking out.  
  
"Grab me something," Simmons comments before he's out of earshot.  
  
Tucker rolls his eyes, "Sure." He'd expected as much, he was going to grab something for the scientist anyway. He couldn't even count how many times Simmons had forgotten to eat because he'd been working on some project.  
  
The smell of pancakes and waffles reaches him as he nears the kitchen, a grin coming to his face. He was starving.  
  
The guy standing behind isn't of the crew members he recognized, so his immediate guess is Florida. He can remember York saying that was the guy that was supposed to cook today.  Florida's helmet is sitting on the counter, a plate with a few pancakes balanced easily on top of it.  
  
"Good morning Tucker!" Florida greets enthusiastically, grinning even as Tucker stares at him almost suspiciously.  
  
"Morning," Tucker replies, watching as Florida prepares two plates.  
  
"Here's a plate for you and your friend," The cook gives a wink, making Tucker want to turn around and walk out, but too hungry to do so.  
  
"Thanks," He says instead, taking the two plates and starting to turn around before Florida stops him.  
  
Tucker turns to see the man holding a small knife, "Make sure to tell the orange one to get some food as well once he wakes up."  
  
Nodding wordlessly, Tucker hurries off. God he's creepy, he thinks as he gets to their room, handing Simmons a plate before beginning on his own. He hears the scientist mumble a thanks before just leaving it beside the laptop.  
  
Tucker was tempted to roll his eyes again, but decides against it. He eats quickly, realizing that York was probably waiting for him.  
  
"See you," He says to Simmons over his shoulder as he hurries to the deck. York is talking with Carolina, although the two of them stop as he approaches. Tucker is finishing fastening his helmet when Carolina greets him.  
  
"We'll talk later," Carolina promises as she walks back towards the captains room. Tucker doesn't bother asking what that was about, not that he has much of a chance to.  
  
"Ok, so on there's four boards to each side of the ship, so eight total. One, we've gotta test them to make sure they still work, and two we need to see if they're charged properly," York explains before Tucker can get a word in.  
  
"You'll take this side," York points to the one opposite of them, "And I'll take this one. Check the charge first, then do a round around the ship." Tucker nods then starts toward the other side of the ship.  
  
Everything's simple enough, though he probably spends too long riding the boards, he doesn't really care. York spends a little more time on his last board as well before setting them back up on their charging docks.  
  
"Now what?" Tucker asks, grinning underneath his helmet. Riding a board is a lot more fun in space than it is on the more gravity applied planets.  
  
"Now we go talk with 479er to see if she wants us to do anything."  
  
Tucker follows York into the lower parts of the ship. He notes how it steadily gets warmer, the walls glowing a sort of bluish color as power courses through them. They go into a connecting room that is cooler than outside, but now filled with various screens and levers and buttons. Tucker really wants to mess with them.  
  
A figure shadows one of the screens, which Tucker notices is showing the front of the ship. The pilot turns, light blue eyes watching them closely as they walk in.  
  
"Hey 479er, got anything for us to do?" York greets, the woman's eyes snapping from Tucker to the co-captain.  
  
"Not yet, which I suppose is a good thing. I assume Captain wants an update."  
  
"Well considering she's sent you a few messages," York drawls, referring to the helmet lying at 479er's feet.  
  
She snorts, flicking a stray lock of hair behind her ear,"It blocks my vision."  
  
York is probably rolling his eyes, although Tucker can't really tell through his visor, "So how are systems and transmissions and everything?"  
  
"Transmissions are clear, CT's staying in contact," 479er begins, turning back to the screens and typing in commands, "Systems are fine too, I can't keep them on autopilot for too long because we'll go off course." She sends a glare to York, who turns away sheepishly. Tucker really wants to hear that story .  
  
"Otherwise everything's good. There's a possibility we could be heading toward some solar storms but they should be minor enough."  
  
York nods, "I'll make sure to tell Carolina."  
  
"Good," 479er seems to lose interest in them, turning back around to type commands into the machine, "I'll contact you guys if I need you."  
  
York and Tucker leave silently, York letting out a sigh when they close the door behind them, "That was mildly terrifying."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Let's just say 479er and me haven't gotten along recently," York chuckles nervously.  
  
"Say no more," Tucker smirks, looking ahead.  
  
A small beep alerts Tucker to a message, seeing that it's from Simmons.  
  
 _:Church just told me he tried messaging you, did you get anything?_  
  
 _:Nah, nothing._  
  
 _:Odd._  
  
Tucker leaves it at that, continuing to follow behind York, who also seems to be having a conversation through his helmet.  
  
The tilts to the side without warning, Tucker falling against the wall with a loud curse as York crouches in an attempt to keep upright.  
  
"The fuck?!"  
  
"That would be the signs of a storm," York replies calmly, beginning to run towards the deck. Tucker stumbles to his feet with a few curses, following York until the ship tips again and he slips.  
  
Now he can hear the sort of dull roar, similar to wind, barraging the sides of the metal ship. A worrying creaking noise reaches his ears and he hurries after York once more. Before he can actually get to the door to the outside, Carolina runs down the hall, Tucker realizes why as the wind reaches him > He hisses as he's thrown to the ground. A harsh slamming sound alerts him to the door to the deck being closed as he can now move again.  
  
"Sorry about that Tucker," York says, panting as he offers a hand, "There wasn't any time for a warning."  
  
"Fuck you," Tucker snarls, feeling bruises beginning to bloom across his back.  
  
He's sure York is rolling his eyes as he's helped into a standing position. The ship rights itself and Tucker is able to keep his balance this time.  
  
"How long will this thing last?" He inquires as he checks the message feed, seeing a few warnings from Simmons, which he replies with a 'thanks asshole' as he follows York once again.  
  
Carolina is in her office, so to speak, glancing at various maps and having a verbal conversation through her helmet. She taps her fingers in the air to bring up new charts and mark new coordinates.  
  
"That far off course? 479er if you're serious-" she falls silent as she glances over at them, "Let me chart this ok, then we can talk," She says briefly before ending the conversation and removing the helmet with an annoyed look.  
  
"Bad?" York questions, moving to take off his helmet as well. Tucker decides to follow their actions, because why the hell not.  
  
"We've been severely knocked off course, and headed toward a larger storm. I'm charting where we are right now," She replies shortly, her lithe fingers snapping through  the air faster as she puts more commands through. Their flight path eventually pops up with a snap and she stands back, looking displeased.  
  
"We are supposed to be here," She points at one coordinate, "But instead we're here." This coordinate is nearly a hands length away from where they should be.  
  
"Oh," Is all York says, making Carolina glare at him.  
  
"Oh is an understatement, " Tucker mutters.  
  
"Go tell 479er to get back on course, I'm going to discuss this issue with Simmons," She says, nearly growling the words as she replaces her helmet. York does a small salute before putting his helmet back on as well. Tucker snaps the seals on as the messages from Simmons pop up in the lower corner of his visor. He follows York to the lower sections of the ship again while simultaneously holding a conversation.  
  
479er is sitting with her feet up on the desk, sipping what seems to be a soda, as the ship tilts slightly.  
  
"What's the captain telling me to do now?" She asks almost lazily as she sits back in a normal position, helmet actually on her head.  
  
"Get us back on course, which if you would that would be great," York replies sarcastically.  
  
479er snorts, "Of course."  
  
She removes her helmet, light brown hair spilling out from its ponytail and over her shoulders. She takes a second to retie it before flicking the screens to a different program. Her hands fly between keyboards and controls, text appearing in glowing blue colors as the ship begins tilting even more. Tucker barely manages to keep his balance as the screens switch back, 479er sitting back once more.  
  
"There, tell her I fixed it."  
  
York, who seems used to the pilots reaction to things, just nods and walks out. Tucker, with nothing else to do, follows him once more.

* * *

  
  
The storm blows over quickly the further they move away from it, although Tucker had fallen multiple times with the multiple times that the ship had corrected its course. For most of it, he stayed in his room with Simmons and Grif, one of which was doing work while the other took a nap. Tucker spent most of the time replying to Church and Caboose. Both had, unfortunately, started messaging him once the solar storm stopped interfering as much with the sketchy signals.  
  
He finds it odd that the signals are sketchy, but Simmons said that it was because they were traveling far enough out that the radio waves were being distorted.  
  
Carolina also messages him as he's preparing for bed, saying that tomorrow the rest of the crew should arrive and that they should be up and ready before that time.  
  
Tucker just says ok because there isn't much else he  can say. Nonetheless, he tells Caboose and Church to shut up till morning while he tries to get a bit of sleep.  
  
He powers down his helmet before either of them can reply anyway.


	4. I'm Confused but then Again I Don't Give a Shit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about not updating in two weeks, today was my birthday so i got to do whatever the fuck i wanted so i was like "i'm going to sit on the computer and write fanfiction all day" so here it is.

"Tucker wake the hell up," Simmons growls, shoving the man off the bed.  
  
"Dude what the fuck!" Tucker splutters, brushing his hair out of his face where it'd fallen out of its ponytail.  
  
"The rest of the crew is supposed to get to get here soon," Simmons explains bluntly, rolling his eyes as Tucker curses a bit more. The scientist then proceeds to start the long process of waking up Grif.

Tucker grabs fresh clothes and takes a quick shower, retying his hair before walking back into their room to grab his helmet. Grif is muttering about being woken up, while Simmons is taking a few moments to check on his computing systems.  
  
Tucker glances at the messages he'd gotten from Church and Caboose, not bothering to answer them because that would invite them to start another conversation and since there were things that needed to be done, he didn't want to bother multitasking.  
  
He goes ahead and heads to the deck, seeing that everyone else was already prepared and standing in a lazy looking line. Carolina is staring off the side of the ship, expression unreadable because of her helmet.  
  
"Morning Tucker," North greets as the younger goes to stand next to him.  
  
"Morning, what are we doing?" Tucker replies.  
  
"Waiting," York answers, lazily leaning against the mast, on the other side of North.  
  
"For the other crew members?" Tucker questions, remembering what they'd said yesterday. He glances out to the space in front of them, not yet seeing anything.  
  
"They're late," Carolina growls, sounding annoyed.  
  
"They didn't exactly give a specified time they'd be here," York says, trying to calm the redhead who had begun pacing back and forth in front of her crew.  
  
Carolina starts to growl something before there's a crackle in their headsets, all of them standing at attention as 479ers voice comes through.  
  
"We've got company; it's not the good kind!"  
  
Tucker reacts as instantaneously as the others do, joining North and York behind the main mast. Carolina follows, but begins climbing up the mast by using the handhelds, perching a few feet above their heads. Wyoming and Florida duck behind the smaller mast.  
  
A ship comes into view, completely nondescript from the distance. Tucker squints in an attempt to discern any details from it, but unable to.  
  
"Small logo near the front, can't tell what it is, no way to see inside, cannons on either side, correction, tinted window in the front, can't see past it," York lists in a quiet tone. Tucker remembers the man's eye, it wasn't just for show, after all.  
  
"Anything else of importance?" Carolina asks, voice curt as she wraps a rope around her hand.  
  
"Weak spots are just under the cannons, single shot will take them out."  
  
"All we need to know," Carolina sounds like she's grinning as she pulls out a pistol, firing a few quick shots in succession. North joins her with the sniper rifle he keeps on his back.  
  
"Front two are dead, prepare to dodge Carolina," York says calmly, ducking down. Tucker, who has no idea what's going on, follows York's action, since he seems to know what's happening.  
  
Carolina releases the rope from around her hand and drops to the ground, narrowly avoiding the shot that had been fired. She kneels, taking careful aim for her next few shots before running toward Wyoming. She traverses the smaller mast, stopping when her momentum runs out only to grab ahold of a loose rope. She continues to aim while using her remaining limbs to hold herself against the mast, and in the air.  
  
"North you'll get a clear shot in a few moments, Florida come around to this side and you'll be able to get a few of the cannons on this side. Tucker you'll be able to see them too," York lists, taking out a weapon of his own to take careful aim. He fires four shots, grumbling under his breath as he decides to duck down again.  
  
Tucker still has no clue what's happening, but thanks all of the Gods that he remember to grab his pistol. A small weapon is better than no weapon at all. He follows Florida's lead, ducking under a few of the shots before seeing what York was talking about. There was the smallest of spots underneath the cannons that could be hit.  
  
"All but two are disabled, but..." York trails off.  
  
"If they're attacking us, then why aren't they trying," Carolina continues, pausing her ascent to stare at the ship. They all pause, realizing that they'd been performing all out offense, but the opposing ship wasn't doing any defense or offense.  
  
"Get down!" Tucker yells, seeing movement behind the tinted window before the glowing of a power source nearly blinds them. A practically noiseless explosion echoes overhead, the helmets blocking out the noise, but the force of it sending them skidding across the deck.  
  
Tucker feels his grip loosening from the doorframe he'd been gripping, before feeling his hand give out. Wincing as the bruises on his back are hit, he manages to grab ahold of the edge of the ship with one hand, the other clutching his meager weapon. He tries to swing himself back on deck, wincing as he hears his arm pop. He glances over, realizing he wasn't the only one holding on for dear life.  
  
Carolina had followed him, she easily pulls herself up, even with one hand gripping her gun. She must've been knocked off the ropes, he's almost shocked she wasn't lost in space at this point.  
  
"Everyone ok?" She barks, hearing various calls of assurance. Tucker pulls himself back on deck, sucking air at the effort it had taken, the environmental systems must've increased the gravity at some point.  
  
They stare at the ship warily now, knowing what it could do. It's next moves could be anything at this point.  
  
"Tucker what did you see before the explosion?" Carolina asks, tilting her head in his direction. She's crouched beside the mast, North and York behind it attempting to regain their bearings.  
  
"The glow of the power before the explosion, it only happened on one side," Tucker replies breathlessly, ducking back behind any sort of cover. He pauses, only now realizing that it had only happened on one side.  
  
"York?"  
  
"Can't really _see_ at the moment," The man growls, sounding annoyed.  
  
"Oh, sorry," Carolina replies, sounding the tiniest bit sarcastic.  
  
Another crackle of audio runs through their headsets, all of them expecting 479er when a different voice replies.  
  
 _"The cavalry has arrived!"_  
  
Carolina turns to look behind them, a muttered "about damn time" running through their helmets. Tucker turns slightly as well, seeing a smaller ship pulled up to the side of the AI. A guy with a grey/yellow helmet jumps from the side of the ship onto the AI with a whoop, a girl with similar helmet colours to North following his example.  
  
The two start firing at the ship immediately, barely waiting a second for any sort of explanation. As the smaller ship is connected to the AI, two more crew members jump on deck, joining the other two in seemingly chasing away the attacking ship.  
  
Carolina growls something under her breath but nonetheless helps out the four, while seeing that the ship is drawing back. After it leaves, Carolina sighs in annoyance and turns to the four.  
  
"Did you have to do that? We could've tried capturing them for more information."  
  
"It wouldn't of worked," the girl with the purple helmet states.  
  
"And why not?" Carolina asks, seemingly through gritted teeth.  
  
"A similar ship came after us on our way back," The girl with the brown helmet interrupts, "We couldn't get close to them either."  
  
Carolina is silent for a few moments before asking, "Did the mission go well?"  
  
"Hell yeah it did!" The purple helmeted girl says excitedly.  
  
"We got two AI's, and multiple enhancement chips to go along with them. There were also a few things of equipment that we 'borrowed',"  The guy with the grey helmet says.  
  
"Names?" Carolina asks.  
  
"Delta and Theta, we didn't have time to see which chips were which."  
  
Carolina nods in approval, "Alright, anyway, this is Tucker, Simmons and Grif are still below deck. Tucker, these are Washington, South, CT and Maine."  
  
Tucker nods, noting the names as Carolina continues, "Tucker, tell Simmons to check for any sort of airfields nearby, especially unauthorized ones. York and North, come with me. Wyoming and Florida, get a stat check on what needs to be repaired and inform 479er. Mark."  
  
"Sync."  
  
Tucker watches as they all go separate ways before sighing slightly and heading back towards their room.  
  
"I already know what you're going to say and I'm going to say that I already know and I'm working on it," Simmons says the moment he opens the door.  
  
"The fuck what?" Tucker asks, quirking and eyebrow.  
  
"I had my helmet on I heard everything that was going on. I'm working on it right now," Simmons explains again, slowing down his sentence. He rolls his eyes before turning back to the computer screen.  
  
Tucker sticks his tongue out childishly, realizing that Simmons probably couldn't see it through the helmet visor but not really caring.  
  
"Where's Grif?" Tucker asks next, realizing that the Hawaiian wasn't anywhere to be seen.  
  
"Dunno, told him to get data from 479er, I have no idea if he managed to get there or not."  
  
"You're so kind and thoughtful," Tucker says sarcastically.  
  
"Damn right, now get the fuck out and let me finish this."

* * *

  
Tucker has his helmet tucker under his arm as he goes on deck, grumbling about how much of an asshole Simmons is when he runs into York.  
  
"Oh sorry dude didn't mean to-  What the hell is that?" Tucker asks, staring skeptically at the small, almost robotic looking, device that doesn't even come up to York's knee.  
  
"It's Delta!" York says happily, "He's really smart and stuff."  
  
"Greetings," The robot- Delta- says, waving a hand.  
  
"Uh, hi," Tucker replies warily. "He's an AI? Like Sheila or something?"  
  
"Sheila?" York looks at him in confusion for a moment, "Oh wait, you must mean the F.I.L.L.I.S, I forgot that people name them."  
  
"Well is he like that? He looks like it, only smaller," Tucker observes, tilting his head at Delta.  
  
"Sort of, but these guys are special wired for battle and such, along with the enhancement chips. Delta is really intelligent and has a healing unit," York lists, the little AI's eyes burning a brighter green.  
  
"Indeed, the other AI, Theta, has Shield enhancements that go along with the chip. He is a defense based AI whereas I am a strategist."  
  
"Alright little robot dude, sounds interesting," Tucker replies.  
  
"Please, I ask you address me as Delta."  
  
Tucker just stares at the AI for a moment before quirking an eyebrow at York, who just shrugs.  
  
"Alright, Delta."  
  
The small robot looks up at York, "Agent York, what are we going to do now?"  
  
"Dunno, waiting till Carolina calls us all together again."  
  
"I will power down to save energy then," The AI's green eyes fade to the dull grey sleeping state, but the robotic being compacts itself down into a small box that York picks up to put in his pocket.  
  
"That's useful," Tucker states, raising his eyebrow again.  
  
"I don't know how they even found them like this," York mutters, "But yeah pretty useful."  
  
"Is Carolina seriously going to call us all together at some point?" Tucker questions, following York as he walks across the deck.  
  
"Yeah, with whatever the fuck is going on, I wouldn't be surprised," York sighs, sounding annoyed.  
  
"So you don't know what's going on?"  
  
York snorts and shakes his head, "Nah, although I'm thinking it's got to be some group of some sort hiding away in the ruins of the space stations nearby, since there's nothing else around."  
  
"There's seriously nothing else around here?" Tucker asks, thinking that there was at least something between them and the possible undiscovered planet.  
  
"Other than ruins? Nope." York pauses and tilts his head, listening to something.  
  
"Carolina wants us to meet in the Captains room, Simmons said he found something."  
  
"Oh, joy."  Tucker grumbles.


	5. Morons.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for not updating for forever, school has been busy especially since I've been a tech for the play, and with the semester getting close to midterms (and the end in general) It's been too hectic to write much. I know I'm behind on my other stories as well, which I also apologize for. Let me know if there's a specific one I should work on.

Simmons looks anxious as he stands in front of the group of Freelance Crew. He wrings he hands and tries to not make eye contact with anyone. Tucker assumes that means he has bad news. On the other hand, Carolina looks annoyed, arms crossed across her chest and a few fingers tapping on the back of her gauntlet.  
  
"Took you long enough," She grumbles at York, but turns to Simmons with a nod to begin.  
  
Tucker joins Grif who's standing with North near the back. Everyone has their helmets off, resting either on the table occupying the center of the room (where most of them are sitting), or held in one hand. Scanning the room quickly, Tucker notes that the newer arrivals are sitting closest to the front, their helmets resting beside them.  
  
Simmons takes a deep breath before using the projection system to show where they are on the map. The room dims enough for the map to be visible, stars fading into existence before their eyes.  
  
"Currently, it would appear that we're no where near anyone or anything besides abandoned space stations or other ruins. But," He taps a part of the map, and stars rush past as suddenly debris looks to be drifting past their eyes.  "I managed to trace the ship back to this location. At first glance it isn't there, but at a second..."  
  
The projection turns to an infrared shade, and now they can see the heat signatures of the ship and of people as they  seem to be unloading things from the ship.  
  
"And that isn't the only place, I found three others with similar signatures."  
  
The map zooms out enough to how the four red dots where the mysterious signatures are.  
  
"How are people out this far, it's essentially uninhabitable," Someone mutters, Tucker glances over and see's that it's the guy with the grey helmet. His head is leaning against his hand as he stares at the little dots. _Washington, that's his name_.  
  
"We got really close to one," Another person says, the girl Carolina called CT stands, pointing at the dot closest to the one Simmons had pulled up.  
  
"Why? I don't get why they would be out this far, who could they be?" Carolina sounds frustrated as she glares at the projection.  
  
"Where are we in comparison to the planet?" York asks, interrupting Carolina before she could begin ranting.  
  
"Three days travel, it's here," Simmons replies, a fifth dot- this one green- popping up.  
  
They all stare at the little dot, as if hoping it would tell them what was going on. When it doesn't, Carolina sighs and turns to her co-captain.  
  
"York, ask Delta what he thinks about this. Might as well see how much these AI know," Carolina orders, sending a glance to North as well, "Theta too."  
  
The little green robot unfolds from it's smaller state at York's command, having taken on a different appearance from when Tucker had first seen him. It must be a projected image, as it's now wearing a helmet similar to theirs and has a suit on. York raises his eyebrows at it, but shrugs it off.  
  
"What do you think of our situation D?"  
  
"There shouldn't be any people populating this part of space other than those traveling with ships- such as we are doing. The planet you have indicated is not in any radar or database I have consulted, and it is assumed that there are no people populated on it either. All of these possibilities are still unlikely."  
  
"Theta, your thoughts?"Carolina asks, turning to North. Tucker glances over to see an even smaller AI sitting on North's shoulder. He seemed to have followed Delta's example of projecting a different appearance, opting for casual clothes with purple and orange hues.  
  
The AI ducks his head down, seemingly not liking to be addressed, "The distances between the space stations are odd, especially in relativity with the planet, I'm not sure what they could mean."  
  
Tucker hears North murmur something to Theta under his breath before the girl called CT starts speaking again.  
  
"Who could these people be is an important question, runaway rebels? Prisoners? Stowaways?"  
  
"There are too many questions here, we might've uncovered something we shouldn't have," Carolina mutters, looking even more irritated.  
  
"Agent Carolina, I believe I can provide a bit more insight," Delta says. Carolina jerks slightly at the title 'Agent' but looks at the AI under scrutiny. She motions for him to continue. The AI steps forward and motions at the projection system. The room is dimmed more as an illuminated bullet is displayed and is slowly taken apart before their eyes.  
  
"This bullet, which was recovered from the deck, is similar to the ones we use besides a few internal factors. There are two substances I've yet to identify but seem to have some sort of explosive component."  
  
"Alien technology?" Wyoming asks, speaking for the first time during the meeting. The guy called Maine growls something underneath his breath that goes unanswered by everyone but Washington who replies in a quiet voice.  
  
"Possibly, the makeup is nothing that I've ever seen before, the problem is-"  
  
"Where they got it," York continues for his AI, the little robot nodding as he returns to York's shoulder, allowing the projection to return to it's original picture of space.  
  
They're all silent, caught up in their thoughts.  
  
Everyone seems grim, but Tucker is really excited about this (although he tries not to show it). He had been expecting a boring field mission with Simmons, but now it was an actual battle-filled situation. He hadn't been in one of those since before he left school.  
  
"There isn't much we can do about this. They may have something to do with why this planet has yet to be charted. As well as the secret labs we've been finding. We certainly can't back out of this now," Carolina says sternly, giving them all hardened looks, "We'll start keeping guard, as well as send a few advance guards out before we make any serious advancements. We can't afford to take any chances."  
  
"Should we call in Tex-?" CT asks before Carolina glares at her.  
  
"Tex is dealing with her own cases, and besides we can handle this on our own. The first watch will be Wyoming and Florida. In the morning Tucker and Washington will scout for us. CT, you'll help 479er with tracking systems. The rest of you will help with the maintenance."  
  
"We will be passing nearby one station probably near the morning, so Tucker and Wash, you'll have to be careful," Simmons warns before they could walk away.  
  
"Needless to say, weapons and helmets should be kept nearby at all times, dismissed."

* * *

  
  
It's early when Tucker is woken up by Wash.  
  
"Put some clothes on and get on deck, we need to start scouting in a few minutes," Wash grumbles, averting his eyes from Tucker's semi-naked form.  
  
"Fine fine," Tucker replies through a yawn, getting up and grabbing a random pair of jeans and a hopefully clean shirt. He remembers to grab his more gripping shoes and gloves before powering on his helmet, seeing a message from Church.  
  
 _:Went on a mission with Tex-just as a warning in case I die or something_  
  
He doesn't bother to reply, since that's useless.  
  
"Hurry up," Wash says impatiently, securing his helmet as he walks onto deck.  
  
"Chill, I'm getting there dude," Tucker says, jogging to catch up.  
  
He sees Wyoming leaning against the main mast, and glancing up, Florida is standing on one of the outcroppings from the mast. Wyoming nods at them as they detach boards from their secure spots on the sides of the ship.  
  
Tucker grins as he feels the machine hum as it powers up, he had missed riding boards the most during this little trip.  
  
Wash leads the way, saying that he had a sort of map that Carolina had given him, a route to follow while they were scouting. "We can't go more than a few miles in front of the ship, so we double back a few times, then York and South will take over for us."  
  
Tucker half listens to his explanation, but nods while attempting a flip. The risk is increased since they're in space and all.  
  
"Hey, don't be so reckless!" Wash warns, sounding like he's scowling as he speeds up to keep up with Tucker.  
  
"Don't be such a fun sucker!" Tucker responds, grinning broadly as he manages to fly upside-down for a few seconds before flipping right side up, the gravity stabilizers whir as he tries the same trick.  
  
"H-hey! Seriously! These boards aren't really set up for space tricking!" Wash says, visualizing the setup of the boards and seeing that Tucker's wasn't going to last long if he kept doing stupid shit.

"We're nearing the next junkyard! Shape up you moron!" Wash hisses, crouching lower on the board. Tucker sighs and stops his reckless (but damn fun) antics to follow Wash's lead. He has to focus more on dodging scrap metal than anything else at the moment.  
  
"Tucker we're doubling back now, have you seen anything?" Wash asks quietly through their comm system after a good few minutes of weaving through the ruins suspended in space. He seems apprehensive, which puts Tucker on edge as he scans the various pieces of metal.  
  
"No, nothing."  
  
"I'm going to use infrared, cover me for a moment," Wash mutters, tapping the side of his helmet.  
  
"Does it block your vision weird? How is that helpful?" Tucker says, but hangs back and continues to survey their surroundings. Washington doesn't reply, instead muttering to himself.  
  
"Damn, too much metal in the wa- Tucker behind you!"  
  
Tucker whirls around at the shout, reaching for his pistol as something slams into his chest. He feels his breath leave him as he blurrily sees a figure drawing back. He realizes that it's because he's flying backwards, his board dropping like a stone with smoke streaming from the sides of it.  
  
"Tucker!"  
  
He tries to get his breath back, feeling an arm wrap around his waist as Washington pulls him onto his board. The Freelancer makes an annoyed noise at losing a board, but aims carefully at the guy in front of them. Some sort of powered shoes are keeping him up, an entire helmet and oxygen system laced around his torso- older technology, but more dependable than simple helmets.  
  
Tucker pulls away from Wash, steadying his feet to keep the both of them from falling, while taking careful aim. Unfortunately, the board was too small for the both of them, so their legs are sort of interlocked while they keep one arm each steadying each other.  
  
"Aim for his feet," Wash relays, shooting a round-which is unsuccessful against the guy.  
  
Tucker growls under his breath in annoyance of being knocked off of the board so easily as he follows example, able to get only one decent hit. It's enough to make the guy falter.  
  
Washington holsters his gun at that moment of hesitation, keeping a tight grip on Tuckers arm as he puts distance between themselves and their attacker. He begins a transmission on the way back to the ship, "Carolina, we just encountered someone in the ruins, we're probably being followed. Get defenses prepared-" He gets cut off as Tucker shoves him roughly to the side. Before he can begin yelling at the younger, he sees bullets whiz through the place his head had been.  
  
"Jesus Christ you're the one driving! Pay attention!" Tucker barks, pulling Wash upright again.  
  
"Don't go shoving me like that! We both could've fallen off!" Wash retorts.  
  
"Both of you focus on getting back! I knew it was too dangerous to send you guys out!" Carolina bark, overriding their communication systems to give them the best directions back.  
  
Wash is forced to weave dangerously through the scraps of metal to avoid getting shot. Tucker is left with little way to try and hit back. Once they get in view of the clear space, the ship coming into view, Wash drops all safety cautions and hits full speed, shutting off the power before they got to the deck and tumbling forwards.  
  
Tucker feels all the breath leave him a second time as he slams onto the deck. He hears Wash thud next to him. They don't have much time to rest as a spray of bullets surround them on the deck, only being deflected by some sort of energy field that forms around them until they get away.  
  
"You two have a fun date?" York teases as he joins Washington behind the mast, a smirk in his voice.  
  
"No, the service was terrible," Wash replies back sarcastically, now seeing that there's more people attacking them, all in similar garb to the guy who had attacked them.  
  
"Did you get a refund?" York asks curiously as he loads another round into his gun, ducking from behind the cover for just enough time to snipe at the attackers.  
  
"What do you think?" Wash replies with a huff, reaching for his secondary weapon as he runs out of ammo for his primary one.  
  
"What's the situation?" Carolina questions, sounding quite pissed off.  
  
"About six of them, all of them firing at us pretty insistently," York replies.  
  
"That's not our biggest problem," 479er says grimly, intercepting their communications, "We've detected a monster ship heading our way, our  defenses would be useless."  
  
"You're joking." York scoffs, "There's no way."  
  
"Completely serious York."  
  
"Shit."  
  
"Do you have a plan Carolina?" Wash asks, interrupting before 479er could yell at York for not being more concerned.  
  
"I'm having everyone prep for a quick getaway," Carolina says sharply. A crackle runs across their communication lines, the signal fading dangerously before regaining strength.  
  
"What are you saying Carolina!" York protests, he manages to knock two of the people out of the air, their teammates keeping them upright just enough to keep shooting.  
  
"What's the point in that!" Tucker exclaims at the same time.  
  
"There's no other choice! We can't stop the ship so we have to evade it!"  
  
"Wait Carolina, there's another option," Wash says hesitantly.  
  
"What the hell are you talking about Wash!" Carolina exclaims irritably. "If there was another option we'd be taking it by now-!"  
  
"Listen to him Captain, I know what he's planning to do," CT says, intercepting their communications.  
  
"I didn't say I was going to do it!" Washington protests.  
  
"Doesn't matter, explain quick," Carolina barks in reply.  
  
"I found an E.M.P device, I also figured out how to use it and no one else can for some fucked up reason. I can either drop it onto their ship or-"  
  
"Can you do it?" Carolina interrupts.  
  
"Yes?" Wash sounds unsure as he shifts from foot to foot, looking as if he was ready to bolt.  
  
"Do it, North and York will cover you," Carolina orders.  
  
"It's coming into view!" They jump at 479ers shout, before the three on the deck risk their safety to see.  
  
"Oh-" Tucker begins.  
  
"Son of a-" York continues.  
  
"Bitch!" Wash finishes. He tacks on a few more of his own curses as he gets to the nearest board, powering it on and dropping off behind the ship with it.  
  
Tucker and York work together to distract the people so that Wash could get past without getting shot.  
  
"479er you're going to want to get a bit further away, the range on this thing has yet to be figured out," Wash warns, Tucker can see that he's pushing the boards speed to the limit as he passes the agressors and nears the monster ship that was beginning to take up their view. It was nearly a _space station_ it was so damn huge.  
  
"Wait, doesn't that mean it can knock out your board?" Tucker asks, barely able to see Wash with the distance he is from their ship, and yet he doubted he was as near to the ship than they thought. The thing is huge; built like a motherfucking tank.  
  
"...I'll worry about that when it happens,"  Wash responds calmly.  
  
"Dumbass, what are you thinking!" Carolina yells.  
  
"You're gonna get yourself killed!" CT says through their line.  
  
"Kinda late for second guessing!" Wash replies, mic cutting off as a sonic-like boom echoes across the space, powerful enough to knock both York and Tucker onto their asses. Tucker lifts himself up as he sees that the ship in front of them shudders, sparks flying off from its surface as it begins to sink, descending downward. He can see the speck of the board fall quickly past it. But he can't see him...  
  
"Wash!"


	6. Wake Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a nice cliffhanger I left you with wasn't it. 
> 
> I'll probably upload the next chapter soon since this one is pretty short. 
> 
> Shit's getting intense.

* * *

 

Tucker scrambles from his position on the ground, snatching a board from the side and putting his tricking to good use as he gets up to nearly the maximum speed only seconds after taking off. He turns off his comm link to ignore Carolina's and York's yells, instead focusing his helmets power to search for Wash.

It's only when he's nearly nosediving down that he spots Wash clinging onto the surface of the ship,holding on for dear life. His left hand is covered underneath a dark coloured grey gauntlet that sends off a few sparks as he slides further towards one end of the ship, his right hand has his regular gloves. Tucker turns his comm link back on.

"Wash I can see you, you're going to have to jump or something to get to me," Tucker says, nearly yelling past the noise of dead space whirling past their helmets.

"The hell are you doing Tucker! You're going to get yourself killed!" Wash replies, sounding angrier than Tucker figured he'd be.

"I'm saving your life you dick!"

"I didn't need to be saved!" Wash retorts, but crouches carefully, trying to keep his feet under him as the ship continues to fall. A worrying hum is beginning to vibrate under his hands.

Tucker pulls up sharply, trying to decrease his speed as he can now see Wash moving as close as he dares to the side of the ship where Tucker is. He passes by windows, and he can see workers rushing around, a siren blaring loud enough for him to hear.

"Can you jump?" Tucker yells, barely able to hear now with the siren.

"I don't have much of a choice!" Wash shouts, jumping as he says this. Tucker has to cut the power to drop nearly a hundred feet to catch Wash, the man gripping his arm with his left hand, his other hand keeping ahold of the board.

"No time to chit chat, get the fuck out of here!" Wash says once he pulls himself up enough to keep his balance.

Tucker mutters a few unsavory things underneath his breath but complies, heading upwards and forwards at a sharp angle to return to the same altitude as the A.I. An almost painfully high pitched whine echoes through their headsets before settling out into a hum that then morphs into Carolina yelling at them.

"What the hell was that Tucker! That was the most dumbass thing I've seen someone do on my ship and there's a lot of fucking dumbasses!"

"Yell at us once we get a safe distance from that thing Carolina," Wash replies before Tucker can begin saying anything that could've been even ruder than what Carolina had said to him.

"Just get the fuck back to the ship," Carolina growls, a sharp snap indicating that she'd shut off the comm links.

Tucker and Wash fall silent, knowing they were about to be chewed out the second they stepped back onto the deck. It wasn't like they could avoid it either. Tucker glances down, getting vertigo as he sees how far down the other ship had fallen. It must've been a storage ship, or a hangar at some point, there's no other way it could've been so large.

The second they get on deck, Tucker is greeted with a punch to the neck and Wash is knocked back with a kick to the chest.

"You two are the most self sacrificing dumbasses  I have ever seen. What the hell kind of stunt was that!" Carolina rages, her helmet tucked close to her body so she could glare at them

"It worked out though!" Tucker protests, holding a hand against his neck with a wince, "The other ship was knocked out and I saved Wash.

"That's not the point Tucker!" Carolina snaps, voice seethingly sharp, "Wash was dead the moment he decided to use the E.M.P. device and you  were dead the moment you decided to follow him! It's luck that the both of you lived!

Tucker's glad for the helmet he's wearing because he glares right back at Carolina. "But we're fucking fine and basically out of danger so what the fuck are you so pissed off about?"

Carolina's gaze sharpens even further as she stalks forward, getting in Tucker's personal space. "The lives of my crew and anyone on my ship are not a joke, Tucker, so I find it appropriate to be pissed off when two of them nearly die just to allow us to get away when there might've been a better option."

She turns to Wash, "If I had known that you wouldn't have been able to get back I wouldn't have told you to do it. It was a mistake on my part." Her glare doesn't leave her face as she turns to the rest of the crew members who had gathered on the deck.

"Seems that there's something here these people don't want us to find, and I'll be damned if we don't uncover what it is. We're getting to the planet within the next two days and no later. Comm systems and weapons are on standby at all times and we'll set up watches. Simmons will be working with 479er to get any and all information needed, and York you will get Delta to help when needed. The materials and weapons found will be distributed, so we'll figure those out now. 479er, get us out of here."

"Roger that Captain."

* * *

Tucker slinks back to his room after being ordered there by Carolina. He'd wanted to see what cool gear the crew was getting but she had physically pushed him back in the direction of below decks.   
  
He huffs as he closes the door behind him, unlatching his helmet and tossing it against the wall, leaving it laying there as he tosses himself onto the bottom bunk. His dreads had once again come undone from his ponytail, and he ties them back loosely as he examines his gun. He's bored.   
  
He hears a ping come from his helmet and with a groan he gets up and puts it on to view the messages. It's just Church.  
  
 _:_ _Just saying I'm alive_  
  
 _:Oh, that's nice to know. Dick._  
  
 _:Wow, Rude Tucker._  
 _:Hows your thing going?_  
  
 _:I've nearly died three times, but one of those times I saved a guy's life so I mean I could technically say two times._  
  
 _:Jesus Christ sounds intense._  
  
 _:No shit. But we're going to get to the planet in a few days, hopefully, if we're not attacked first._  
  
 _:Whoa what? Attacked?_  
  
 _:Yeah, twice now._  
  
 _:Dude._  
  
 _:Yeah._  
  
 _:Well I wish Tex and I could help out, but she's got another job lined up, something about malicious groups forming near Valhalla. Maybe we can help out a bit after she finishes this one._  
  
 _:Yeah , while SHE finishes because you don't help any._  
  
 _:You know what Tucker, you can go suck a dick._  
  
 _:Fuck off._  
  
 _:Gladly. You're getting boring so bye._  
  
 _:Fuck you._  
  
Tucker takes off his helmet again and sets it on his chest, looking at the visor. He examines the many dings and scratches across its teal (Turquoise? Aquamarine? Azure?) surface.   
  
He rubs a finger over a long scratch, letting out a small sigh as he shuts his eyes. If anything he can catch a few hours of sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone has a safe Thanksgiving!


	7. From Bad to Worse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swore I had already posted this chapter I'm so sorry guys. Merry Christmas I guess!

  
He shoots upright in bad as he feels his stomach plummet, feeling like he was riding a roller coaster going straight down.   
  
The sound of crumpling metal reaches his ears, and the lights are flickering dangerously as the feeling doesn't leave him. The ship must be falling.   
  
What the fuck.   
  
He curses fluently as he puts on his helmet, having difficulty securing it as he simultaneously tries to stand, finding that the gravity stabilizers must be somewhat damaged because he drifting a few inches off the ground.   
  
"Hey what the fuck is going on!" He yells through the ship's open channel, only hearing static. He curses more and grabs his two favorite weapons, shoving them into their holsters after putting on his protective blue jacket.   
  
He makes his way out to the hallway, stumbling and trying not to fall the entire way as the lights completely power down, a worrying silence reaching his ears.   
  
"Hey someone tell me what's happening," He says nervously, able to tell that their comms were completely dead. Tucker can tell they're not falling as rapidly anymore, but the systems must be down because he's clinging to the door-frame in an attempt not to leave the ground. His helmet hums as it begins to filter oxygen, but he knows that that resource can't be expended for long periods of time.   
  
A smoky smell reaches him as he goes down the hall, heading toward the hatch that would lead down to the engine room. It's powerful enough to work its way through the filtration system.   
  
We must've been attacked again, Tucker realizes as he wrestles open the hatch, finding that the gravity stabilizers on the lower floors must be more intact as he slams to the ground.   
  
"Ow," He groans, picking himself up before heading down the hall, seeing the smoke grow thicker with each step. A worrying siren screech reaches his ears as he notices how dead the walls are, no longer pulsing with energy.   
  
"479er, you there?" He yells, finding that debris is beginning to block his path to the engine room. The wall is partially crushed in, like something had hit it from the other side. Of course since the engine room is near the center of the ship, it means that something large and damaging had hit it from the outside and the thought of that terrifies Tucker.   
  
"Tucker?"   
  
"Hey! What the fuck is going on!"   
  
Her voice is faint, the combination of no comm link and a blocked door making it hard to hear her, "We were attacked, their ship was camouflaged. We're crashing but I can't fix it because the power deck was at least partially destroyed and I'm trapped in here!"  
  
Tucker pauses in his work to free the door, "Would it be faster to get you out or for me to go down myself to fix it?"   
  
He can hear 479er working from her side of the door to open it, "I need to stay here to get the ship back online, listen, I can hand you a comm link that'll work for long enough to get the job done, go down to the power deck and I'll give you instructions, you got it?"  
  
Tucker moves closer to the door, seeing that 479er had propped it open enough to hand him the comm link, "Yeah I've got it."  
  
"We don't have much time, move it!"  
  
He clips the link onto his helmet, now hearing 479er checking to make sure it works. He fights his way through the debris, going down another floor, feeling the heat grow even more intense as a faint light pulses through the walls.   
  
"Alright I'm here." He surveys the room, seeing small fires have sprouted all over the walls, and sparking is coming from a computer panel with buttons and other technological looking things.   
  
"You're going to have to reinstate the power supply first, so there are three of the fuel tanks that are disconnected, the other one is still working. Reconnect two of them, the third is damaged."  
  
"Got it." Tucker looks at the fuel tank he's nearest to, the transparent container sloshing with glowing blue liquid. He notices a few red and green buttons at the base of it. Reinstate. Power Off. Repair. On.  The only one that is lit is 'Power Off." He presses the other three buttons and hears a hum run through the entire room, the pulsing growing stronger.   
  
The next one is just as easy, but the third one literally explodes before he can get to it.   
  
He flinches back, somehow able to flip his hood up over his helmet before the acidic liquid could reach him. He can hear 479er asking questions of concern, since the explosion had traveled through the entire ship, but he assures her he's fine (ignoring the minor burns on his neck and wrists) and asks for the next directions.   
  
"The control panel is really badly damaged, but see if you can get a few things working, the environmental systems is an important one. The weapons and stabilizers are important too. Flip all the switches that are labeled like that, then flip them back if you have too."  
  
"Got it," Tucker grins, walking over to the panel and scanning the labels before flipping the ones that looked important. A shock runs through the room and he can feel the ship slow to a stop before powering back on. Light flickers on above his head and he grins in victory.   
  
"We're not in the clear yet Tucker, before you start to celebrate," 479er says seriously, interrupting his moment of celebration.   
  
"What else do I need to do?"   
  
"Make sure the fires go out and that another fuel tank doesn't explode while I try to reconnect our communications, we need to land somewhere and quick or else we're not going to make it."  
  
"That's reassuring," Tucker grumbles, but turns to the control panels, where he can see little readings on the status of the room. The second and fourth fuel tanks are grey, and the third one is a red shade but the first one is a seemingly normal blue. That's worrying.   
  
A painfully loud static noise emits from the headset in his helmet, and he winces, but doesn't risk taking it off as he doesn't know how well the environmental status is.   
  
"Can anyone hear or respond?"   
  
479er's voice is faint and echo-y, but he can still hear her, "I dunno if it matters but I can hear you."  
  
"This is Carolina, I can hear you," The Captain's voice is even fainter, and less clear. "I'm just below decks, but I can't get to anyone. York is here with me."  
  
"Thank God, OK anyone else?" 479er asks.  
  
"North, South, and Florida, all here with me," Wyoming says, "We're trapped near the weapons room."  
  
"Maine and I are just outside the cargo area," Washington reports,  "We may be a bit stuck but we're here."   
  
"This is CT, I'm near the engine room, I'm almost to you 479er."  
  
"Grif, Simmons?" 479er asks.   
  
"Here, we're fine," Simmons says, sounding calmer that Tucker would've figured.   
  
"Is Tucker alright?" Carolina asks, the static fading away.   
  
"Yeah I'm fine, I'm fixing shit in the power deck," Tucker replies, "Hey 479er, I think another fuel tank might explode soon, the reading is blinking red. The second one has gone from grey to red too."  
  
"Get the fuck out of there then because this ship can't fly with only one fuel tank and if it's going to explode then you DEFINITELY don't want to be in there when it does!"   
  
"Well shit." Tucker says calmly, seeing that the tank is between him and the door and fractures are spreading through the glass. A small calculation appears on his helmet and he snorts as he reads it "if you get out of the room and down the hall in three seconds you probably won't die." Yeah that'll work out.   
  
He ducks into the corner as a bright light flashes, his helmet blocking out the noise but leaving a ringing in his ears. He knows that some of the fuel had gotten on him but he ignores it as he says "I'm alive" before getting up and stumbling through the door, grimacing as he notices a gash on his leg.   
  
Smoke has filled the hallways again, but he can still see due to the lights overhead, the explosion thankfully didn't knock out any of the systems he'd reset.   
  
"We're nearing those abandoned space stations I found earlier, we're going to land in one of those, we should be able to begin repairs as long as we get there before another fuel tank gives out, prepare for a rough landing."  
  
He can hear the curses of the other crew members through the comm link that 479er had repaired, before the only noise he can hear is dead space as 479er heads them towards the space station.  
  
Tucker clings to a door to keep his balance, footing growing progressively more unstable with each passing second before he eventually just let himself fall to the ground as he hears 479er tell them that they're landing.   
  
The screech of metal on metal makes hims flinch and try to cover his ears as they somehow get to a stop.   
  
"There's an environmental barrier around this place so if you can get off and out of the ship, do so because I'm shutting the AI off before it blows up."  
  
There's grumbles of confirmation before all the lights snap off, stopping their pulsing.   
  
"Who can get out?"  
  
479er's question is met with silence, and she sighs, "Everyone is trapped? Goddamn."  
  
"Carolina and I can get out once we clear a way," York says, "Delta is examining the various issues and examining the attack."  
  
"Hey yeah can someone explain what happened?"  
  
"The monster ship reappeared, shot the shit out of us, then left." York answers.  
  
"Oh." Tucker falls silent and focuses on returning to the next floor, the task more difficult with the lights off and smoke obscuring his vision more than it had before.   
  
When he finally gets back to the Pilot's deck, he can see the faint silhouette of CT tossing aside the debris blocking 479er from getting out. He hurries forward, helping CT until 479er stumbles out, looking annoyed as she brushes her hair out of her face.   
  
"I'm cutting my hair soon jeez how did I ever deal with this?" She grumbles, before giving CT a small nod, "Thanks." She puts her helmet on, securing it with a small sigh before beginning to walk towards the hatch Tucker had just come from. Tucker assumes that the room had been reinforced with a special environment barrier, otherwise 479er would've been dead by now.  
  
"I'll be working for awhile, York send Delta down when you can, and get the hell off the ship."   
  
"Roget that 479er," Carolina says, York chiming in with, "He's heading down now."  
  
"Carolina, Maine and I are out, what should we do?" Washington asks.   
  
"Wait until all of us are out, then we can plan on what to do," Carolina orders, "We're almost there."  
  
Tucker looks at CT, "CT and I can get out soon too."  
  
"Then stop talking and get moving dammit!"

* * *

  
  
Tucker wraps a quick bandage around his leg, glad that there were first aid kits that were easily accessible on the deck. Especially since all of them had gotten injured.   
  
Helmets are left on the ground while everyone patches themselves up, some more bitter than others about how they were taken by surprise.   
  
Tucker examines the crew as he leans back on his hands and waits for painkillers to kick in, seeing upon immediate glance, Carolina was the most injured. She mutters under her breath as she wraps a final bandage around her arm, having already covered the ones on her other arm and legs.   
  
She gains their attention as she starts talking, "We need to ensure we will be safe here for long enough for repairs to be made. At the moment there are no quick ways of escape without the options being either dangerous or leaving the ship behind. We'll spit off into groups, a group will stay here, and the others will scout both outside this place and inside."  
  
"Simmons, Grif, Wyoming, Florida, you are staying here, CT, York, South, and myself will be one group, Maine, Tucker, Washington, and North will be another. We're going to have to scout the whole place. My group will take the lower floors and what appeared to be storage areas, North's group will take any and all cargo bays and the floor above us. Comm links on at all times," She sends a look to Tucker, "And don't split up if you can avoid it."  
  
Tucker huffs out a sigh as he stands, going over to beside Wash and Maine where North was waiting. They don't really say anything to each other as they make their way across the large hangar to where hallways split off into different directions.   
  
"According to this map of the layout, there's two other hangars with attached cargo bays, the floor above of us it made up of offices. It will take longer to check the cargo bays than anything."  
  
"But we can't really split up, right," Wash says, sounding tired.   
  
"Yeah, Carolina's orders. It really shouldn't take too long," North agrees, pausing at the entrance to a cargo bay, searching for the lighting panel. He flips it on, illuminating a completely decimated area.   
  
They stare at the damage with wide eyes, scanning over the melted lumps of metal and the wreckage from what they assume would be ships. "Tucker and I will start up here, Wash and Maine, head down to the entrance if you can and make your way up to us." North says quietly.  
  
Wash and Maine follow his orders with small nods, weaving their way through the broken remains and quickly disappearing amongst the scrap. North motions for Tucker to follow him, and he does, ripping his gaze from a mostly intact ship that he was fairly sure had a few corpses stored away.   
  
"If you see any movement, shoot it," North tells him, having his own weapon ready.   
  
"Got it," Tucker replies under his breath, taking out his pistol. He's trying to figure out what could possibly do this, it didn't seem like the people had fought back against whatever it was.   
  
He steps carefully around what he would guess is a solar board, an older version of the boards they use today. He slows down a bit, now trying to see if there's anything they could salvage.   
  
North continues walking ahead of him, more cautious but obviously wanting to get out of here. A crackle runs through their comm's, and Carolina's voice comes through. "What's your status North?"  
  
"The hangar and connecting cargo bay are completely wrecked, it's awful. The soldiers here were caught completely by surprise. There may be some salvageable weapons or other technology."  
  
Carolina is silent for a few moments, "Roger that North, anything worthy of use can be put near the hall and we can get it on our way up."  
  
"Alright," North replies, hearing the message cut off.   
  
"There's not much over here other than ashes, I'm assuming you guys have better luck with finding stuff?" Washington relays, using their comm due to their distance apart.   
  
"It's a lot of older technology, but yeah we're finding some stuff." North picks up what Tucker assumes would be a gun, but it's got a faint purple glow to it. Nothing like he'd ever seen before, "And then there's whatever the fuck these things are."  
  
Tucker snorts but splits off a bit from where North is, venturing towards a ship that had caught his attention. It was still glowing just slightly, it's blue pulses of light so weak he had barely been able to tell. It's entire side had been blown out, and he could see inside of most of it. Something drips from the ragged metal edge, and he watches as it hits the ground, hissing and creating a dent in the thick floor. Acidic.    
  
"What the hell could've happened here?" He asks, mostly to himself.   
  
"Probably an attack from that alien species, before we had enough time and power to fight back," North replies, "But apparently these guys put up a good fight, there's a bunch of alien technology here."  
  
"Damn," Is all Tucker can say, stepping away from the ship and rejoining North. Washington and Maine come into view, joining the two of them as they head back to the entrance.   
  
"There's too much to grab, we'll just wait for your group Carolina," North says as they make their way to the next hangar.   
  
"That's fine. We haven't found much here, we'll be heading back up soon."  
  
The hallways grow progressively darker as they continue on, leaving them to rely on their helmet's night vision and infrared to make their way. Any doors they find along the way are opened, most of them revealing just as decimated rooms, or completely empty ones. Tucker begins to notice the burn marks on the walls.  
  
Washington notices something down the hall, "Hey North, I'm going to check that out," He says, quickly walking away before North could say anything. Tucker immediately follows him, for whatever reason.   
  
"You two!-" North begins to say, before Wash cuts him off.   
  
"Check out the hangar North, we'll join you in a second," Wash says, continuing away. Tucker jogs to catch up, glancing back and seeing that he could barely see North and Maine anymore.   
  
Tucker opens his mouth to say how Wash shouldn't just run off like that, before he feels his foot connect with something. It skitters across the floor with a metallic sound, and Tucker pauses to pick it up. He feels his hand fit perfectly around what appears to be just a handle. He frowns and notes that it does have an orange reading on the infrared. Odd.  
  
He holds onto it, putting it into the holster for his pistol while trying to follow Wash once again before realizing that the freelancer had continued ahead of him. He huffs and stops, preferring to just wait until he came back this way.   
  
Cursing suddenly comes through the comm, and Tucker turns quickly, asking "What's wrong, North?"   
  
"There has to be people here, these kills are fresh, Carolina can you hear me?"   
  
No reply.   
  
Tucker is about to ask North if he should head back when he hears footsteps. He looks behind him, beginning to say, "Wash, something's up we need to get back-" Before feeling his helmet getting ripped off his head, the latches forced undone and a hand being clamped over his mouth.   
  
An arm is wrapped around his chest, pinning him against someone else and successfully keeping him from moving. He struggles against the person, but his punches and kicks won't fucking connect to anything but air. They pull him back into a hallway he hadn't realized was there, a door opening and closing behind them. If the person hadn't been wearing an armored glove he would've tried to bite their hand.   
  
He manages to land a single kick, hearing a grunt of pain. Copying the move, the grip around him falters enough for him to free himself. However, he only makes it a few steps towards the door (or where he thinks the door is, it's pitch black) before his legs are taken out from under him. There must be two of them.   
  
Heavy pressure is applied to keep him pinned as someone pulls his arms behind his back. He can't even scream.   
  
"Be quiet now, we wouldn't want them to hear you," Someone says softly into his ear.   
  
"Fuck off," Tucker snarls, trying to wriggle out of their hold. Another voice answers him.   
  
"You have something of ours and we need it back, we'll let you go if you hand it over peacefully."  
  
"What the fuck is it?" He asks, unconsciously feeling the handle thing pressing into his hip.   
  
"You need to just hand it over, otherwise we'll have to kill you."  
  
"Well if you just fucking tell me what it is you won't have to kil-!" His head is roughly pushed to the floor; he can taste blood. The two people above him are silent. He can suddenly hear Washington and North yelling for him. He has half a mind to reply before feeling a gun being pressed threateningly between his shoulder blades. He growls under his breath but remains quiet.   
  
If they ran past, he might have an opportunity to get away. But they don't. Their voices fade away, and he could almost sigh in annoyance.   
  
"We can't stay here," One of the people say, the one keeping his arms pinned behind his back.   
  
"If we drop him off to the planet then we can get him later, they won't find him in time."  
  
Tucker slowly begins to realize how bad the situation is.   
  
"You grabbed his helmet?"  
  
"I'm not a dumbass."  
  
"What the fuck are you dickheads planning?" Tucker hisses, trying again to get free.   
  
"Your death."


	8. Running

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lost half of my original draft because I always type in my email (because there's not enough memory on the computer) so half of this chapter was improvised. And I started using Google Drive which is even weirder than my other email so everything's a little messed up to be completely honest. But I'm trying to get chapters out as soon as I can, even though this is one of my less popular stories. (I really like it so...)
> 
> ALLLLLSO I had a huge realization with this story the other night, so I think I have filled out the details to it and I can fulfill some of the things that the movie had included. I've already started hinting at it actually. The story should be wrapping up soon enough.

* * *

 

Despite chasing after the figure Washington had seen he wasn't able to catch up to them. They'd vanished down a hallway and he wasn't able to follow. Now North is probably going to yell at him even more.

Wash growls under his breath in annoyance and doubles back, wondering where Tucker was, maybe he'd stayed back?

He hears Tucker begin to tell him to get back before the comm link dies, and he begins to run back to where North and Maine are. Both are standing with weapons drawn, although Maine's gun must be one of the weapons found in the cargo bay.

North turns to look at him, "Where's Tucker?" Even without a comm link Wash can hear the frown in his voice.

"He didn't come back here?" Wash asks in confusion, glancing around as if he would be hiding.

"No, he was following you," North replies angrily.

"He wasn't when I started to head back," Washington protests, growing defensive, "He wasn't even in sight."

North curses and turns down the hall, "Tucker!"

Washington walks a ways down the hall, hearing North follow him part of the way. He looks around, seeing a dead end hallway that's completely dark. He yells for Tucker a few more times but doesn't hear a response.

"Come on Wash we need to get back to Carolina, Tucker might've headed back a different way," North says grimly after a few moments of waiting.

Washington hopes that Tucker will show up, but he doesn't.So he stays quiet, gritting his teeth and nods, following North back to where Maine is standing. Before they can say anything, gunshots begin echoing down the hallway.

"That's bad," Maine mutters, and begins running in the direction of the hangar.

Wash gives one backwards glance before following.

* * *

The same guys that keep attacking their ship are running around the hangar, shooting sporadically at the four guarding the AI in an attempt to get through their defenses. Maine has already opened fire on them by the time Wash runs into the room.

"What happened?" He asks breathlessly as he crouches beside Simmons, managing to get behind their cover (sheets of crumpled metal) without getting shot.

"These assholes showed up out of nowhere," The scientist answers, "We haven't seen the other ship yet, and  I hope we don't."

"We can't fight that thing off right now, the AI can barely get off the ground," 479er snaps, emerging from the ship, "We might be able to get away if there's no fighting involved."

Carolina runs in, almost blurring with how fast she is, Wash remembers the chip enhancement she took, "There's guys everywhere, we need to get out of here," She snaps.

"Unless if there's no one out there we're not going anywhere," 479er says in response, sounding annoyed.

Carolina hisses curses under her breath, glancing back to see the rest of her group standing by the doorway and shooting from there.

"Technically we have the upper hand right now, but I have no idea how long that will last. Either way we need to get going, 479er get the ship prepared, we'll hold them off out here then we're leaving," Carolina orders, crouching to reload her weapon.

"Roger that," 479er answers grimly, hurrying back inside the ship. York and the rest of Carolina's team join up with them after seeing Carolina motion for them.

"What are we doing," York asks, sounding out of breath.

"Holding them off until 479er can get the AI up, York go with North to help her out since you two have the AI's," Carolina explains quickly. York nods and follows North inside the ship.

Carolina scans over everyone gathered behind the pieces of wreckage, before growling in annoyance, "Where's Tucker?"

Washington freezes, ducking his head down in what could be embarrassment, "We couldn't find him, he and I were chasing after a person and at some point we got separated."

"Are you kidding me!" Carolina rages, "We can't stay and look for him, I won't risk all of us just for him."

"But-!" Wash begins to protest.

"He wouldn't just get lost, and I have a feeling he's not here anymore, either way we're not staying," Carolina says firmly.

"But Carolina-" Washington tries again.

"That's my final decision Washington, now be quiet," Carolina cuts him off with a steely voice, "We need to focus on getting out of here."

Washington shuts up, but not without an angry glare in Carolina's direction. He was very glad for his helmet at that moment.

"479er are we ready to go?" Carolina barks, motioning for the others to get on the ship.

"As ready as we can be," 479er answers.

Carolina glances at the attackers, noticing they'd backed off a lot from when they'd first been trying to kill them. She narrows her eyes, noticing how they're basically just standing there, only occasionally shooting at them.

Without dwelling on it too long, she gets in the ship and shuts the hatch door, locking it with an order for 479er to take off.

* * *

 They gather in the same meeting room, excluding 479er who remains in the engine room with her helmet on to listen to the discussion.

"We're facing quite a few issues right now," Carolina begins, already sounding frustrated, "The AI is in no shape to be traveling, those guys might be on our tails and we wouldn't know, and Tucker is missing."

"We're close enough to the planet at this point that I believe the AI can make it there without issue, but that only knocks out one of the problems," 479er says immediately.

"Wait, what happened to Tucker?" Simmons asks curiously.

Carolina stares pointedly at Washington until the man sighs quietly.

"We were following someone and at some point me and him got separated, North and I looked for him but we couldn’t find him,” Wash says.

“Wait so we just left him?” Simmons asks, sounding like he’s trying not to freak out.

Carolina stops him before he could, “I’ll tell you the same thing I told Wash. I wasn’t going to risk all of our lives for the chance that Tucker had still been at the base, I had a feeling that he wasn’t still there,” she says almost coldly.

Simmons doesn’t say a word, but he’s obviously not happy as he looks away from Carolina. Grif glances at the scientist but opts not to say anything.

“There is an option to find him once the AI is more stabilized, I can trace the frequency of his helmet’s comm system,” 479er says quickly once the silence starts to get to everyone.

“What if he is still back at the station?” Simmons asks, looking at Carolina .

“Then we’ll go back for him,” Carolina replies, sounding miffed that Simmons would think she’d do anything else.

“So there’s only one other problem, who the hell were those guys,” South says after a few moments.

Carolina sighs, “I believe we’ve stumbled on something like a mercenary group or rebels. The equipment they were using might’ve been out of date, but it’s meant for war and survival. Whatever they’re doing, they were definitely planning for the long run.”

“A rebel group from the war maybe?” York says, sounding contemplative.

Delta, who is sitting on York’s shoulder, sits up straighter, “Perhaps it is something originating from the more isolated areas of space, that is where many soldiers were sent at the beginnings of the war according to database records.”

York looks from the robotic companion to Carolina.

“You very well could be right Delta, there were some extremist rebel groups near the beginnings of the war, it wouldn’t be completely inconceivable for them to still be here today,” North says thoughtfully, “Maybe they could have a leader or something that would even help keep them hidden away…”  
  
“Maybe that’s why the planet hasn’t been discovered yet, because these guys were keeping it on the down-low.”

They all turn to look at Grif, who’d spoken for the first time during the meeting.

“Someone high up...keeping the planet ‘hidden’,” Carolina murmurs, obviously in deep thought.

“Well we’ll be landing on this planet quite soon, there was a miscalculation earlier,” 479er says, “Be ready to move within the next few hours.”

“Roger that 479er, orders will be given once it’s in sight,” Carolina replies immediately. She sighs and takes off her helmet to push bangs back and out of her face. “We’ll wait for now, and see what happens.”

* * *

 The first thing Tucker does when he wakes up is reach for his gun, but only finds the weird handle thing he found on the ship in the holster. His head hurts, probably because those assholes knocked him out. After a few moments he surveys his surroundings, noting that he's outside, laying on some grass, and it's somewhere between day and evening. He feels nervous as he makes sure he has all of his limbs before standing. Something falls onto the ground, making him jump before he sees that it’s his helmet.

Putting it on, the HUD reads: NO AVAILABLE SIGNAL

Frowning in concern and realization of the situation, Tucker reads through the most recent conversations. North and Wash had tried contacting via messaging, obviously because the comm links must've been cut off.  Carolina had as well.

North: _Meet us by the AI, we have to leave_

Washington: _Wherever the fuck you ran off to, you need to get back here quick_

Carolina: _Where the hell are you and what the fuck do you think you're doing_

He can't reply, the message NO SIGNAL blinks every time he tries.

"Fuck!" He curses, wanting to throw something, but he doesn't want to throw anything he has, which is actually very little.

He only has one gun, since he lost the pistol. Well, except for the handle thing. Maybe if he throws it at whatever or whoever tries to attack him, it could stun them long enough for him to run away.

Tucker scrutinizes it, trying to figure out what it could be. Immediate thought would be a handle, but he has no idea what it would go to. There's nothing really descriptive about it other than the fact that it's a dark grey color and fits perfectly in his hand.

Maybe there's like a button or something that does something...holy shit there’s a button.

He curiously presses on the button, yelling "Holy shit!" when the energy he'd seen earlier with the infrared forms a blue glowy sword.

So it wasn't just a useless thing he tripped over and held onto!

He experiments with it on the nearby trees, finding that it was actually a damn good sword. He might not be dead after all! If only he could get signal.

Where even is he anyway?

After glancing around a bit more, Tucker realizes that he’s in a clearing, but there isn’t any buildings nearby. With another look he realizes that the trees aren’t the familiar trees he’s used to, which is odd because he’s fairly sure Simmons’s lessons on the ‘various foliage on planets’ had stuck with him pretty well.

And it’s slowly getting darker.

_Shit._

Tucker curses a few times before deciding to just start moving. It’d be a better idea than staying put, isn’t that how people in horror movies die? Or wait, maybe it’s when they decide to explore. Either way he wasn’t going to stay in the clearing forever, plus he needed to find signal so he could tell Washington where he was. Well, technically he should tell Carolina.

Whatever.

Keeping the sword out to light the way, he begins to walk through the trees.


	9. Getting Shot Sucks Dicks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the very long wait (although not many people read this story) I thought it'd be a good idea to get working on it again since RVB13 came out. 
> 
> I just recently found this stored in my drafts (I thought I lost it) and it was written pretty substandard. Either way, I've edited it to the best of my ability (my writing style has changed a lot since the last time I typed for this story). If you can't tell I got a little lazy near the end, another apology for that. You're welcome to yell at me for any mistakes.
> 
> The story is almost over though ;0

* * *

 “Planet is in sight Carolina, I’ve already located a spot to land.”

Carolina is shocked from her thoughts at the pilot’s voice, and she sighs as she stands from her desk, stretching her arms over her head. “Roger that 479er, I’ll prep the crew, once we land I assume you’ll shut it off?”

She begins to make her way to the deck, feeling bad for their previously grand ship as the appearance gets rougher looking the closer she gets to the surface.

“It’s no longer a choice to be honest, it’s either we set down or it won’t operate anymore. I can do the general repairs for most of the things, enough to make sure we can get home, but she won’t be able to survive much of a fight.”

Carolina frowns, with how the journey had been going lately, that isn’t a good thing, “Alright, you can have Delta and Theta to help you out, and probably Wyoming and Florida, they’re good with maintenance.”

“Great, we’ll be landing within ten minutes, just alert the crew, everything’s as fit as it’ll be for landing.”

“Got it.”

Carolina cuts off the comm link as she ventures on deck. Her helmet immediately begins filtering oxygen, meaning that the environmental barrier was only operating below decks. She can feel the lesser gravity as well, but only enough to make her conscious of it; she wasn’t floating yet.

Walking out to the mast makes her nervousness fade as she catches sight of the planet. Eyes wide, she quickly scales the wooden post up the top to get a clearer view. She stares in awe at the surface, hanging on with one arm so she could survey better. It seemed to be almost earthlike, full of land and water, although it appeared to have more land.

From the height the ship was, she couldn’t see any signs of civilization, which is both a good and bad indication. No people means no rebels, but no people means no safe resources.

After a few more moments she climbs back down to return below decks, opening a channel to relay the information to the crew. Returning to her captains quarters, she takes off her helmet to upload the picture she’d taken of the planet with her helmet. She was an explorer after all.

Plus Simmons had asked her to do it, the scientist had something else he’d wanted to look into. She didn’t really protest since the man had been the one to start the mission and everything.

Sadly sitting in her chair and staring intently at the picture wasn’t exactly focusing her thoughts any more than they would’ve in any normal circumstance.

What she really wants to remember is where she’d seen the rebel’s equipment before. She’d been in the war, working mostly for hire with what would become her crew and Tex who joined them later on. She knows York at the least could remember he’d seen them as well. Unfortunately the company name manages to escape both of them.

Another sigh leaves her before she could stop it as the ship is jarred, passing through the atmosphere of the planet. Too many weird things were happening, she just needs to focus on what’s happening right now.

“Captain once we’ve landed I’ll check the quality of the air before shutting the AI down. It seems perfectly fine so far, no established cities, no signs of human or alien life, seemingly uninhabited.”

Carolina pauses, “I hear a ‘but’, what is it?”

“Well, it’s just that I have a feeling that if there are people inhabiting the planet, we just can’t see them.”

“Clarify that 479er,” Carolina says uncertainly, a strange sort of nervousness make her throat tighten.

“I’m just a pilot so technically you should ask Simmons about it, but I think that they might be underground.”

Underground.

“Like I said, it’d be better to check with Simmons,” 479er says quickly, “This is just a hunch I have. After all, with the people at the space station, there’s no way they haven’t found the planet.”

“I’ll check on it after we get a lead on Tucker,” Carolina replies numbly, feeling another slight shock course through the ship before it settles into stillness.

“Mm,” 479er hums, “Air quality is similar to the planet Earth, nothing extremely toxic, so we’re safe... and I’ve already got a trace on Tucker’s helmet. He’s on the planet.”

“You’re kidding,” Carolina says, too shocked to think of anything else to say.

“Surprisingly no, I’ll send you the tracking data, he’s moving so it’s going to have to stay activated. I’m shutting down the AI now.”

Carolina returns to their open channel, “The air quality is the same as Earth so we’re fine. 479er is going to start repairs for the ship, I want Delta and Theta to help her. Florida and Wyoming, you’ll help her too for right now, we’ll have to work in shifts. She also got a lead on Tucker, Washington I’ll leave that to you. Everyone else will be with me to scout the perimeter.”

Various replies of affirmation answer her when she pauses.

“Meet on Deck.”

Saying that, she dons her coat, feeling as if she’ll need the extra protection. She runs her fingers over the small insignia near the chest, marking her a ranked captain. Threaded silver, smooth; an annoyance.

York had been waiting outside of the room, she realizes this as the man falls in step beside her once she stalks out, helmet held in hand.

“What do you think?” He asks quietly.

“I think we’re all idiots,” Carolina replies easily. She can almost feel York roll his eyes at her. “I can’t afford the luxury of thinking about how bad our situation may or may not be, I just need to focus on what we’re going to do next.”

York shrugs, “I get that.”

The rest of the crew are gathered on the deck of the ship, looking out on the forest they’d landed nearby. Simmons looks almost confused as he types things out on a laptop. He’s making Grif hold onto his helmet.

Florida and Wyoming had already taken Delta and Theta down to 479er who had decided to start with the engine room and move outwards. Carolina’s glad those two will help her out, they were surprisingly good with machines.

“First, Washington. Tucker’s on the planet, 479er gave me the program to track with, which I’ve already sent to your helmet. I want you to head on out, we need to figure out what happened to him as soon as possible.”

Washington nods, not saying a word as he turns and jumps off the edge of the ship to the ground. It wasn’t too far, plus the slightly reduced gravity, but Carolina could still feel a wry smile curling her lips at the reckless action as she watches him jog straight towards the forest. He already knew where he was going.

She turns back to the crew, “Now we are going to split off and check the perimeter. “Two groups, myself, York, Simmons, and Grif. Then North, South, CT, and Maine. We’ll fan out towards the coastline and to the east.”

She looks towards the forest that covered the East and South of the ship, and the Coastline that dominated the West and North. Her eyes narrow in suspicion, already finding something that caught her attention.

“That tree’s been cut down.” York had noticed it too.

Carolina nods, “We’ll take the forest, you guys head for the coast.”

She and York go for the tree as soon as they jump to the ground. Brush crunches under their boots as they make the surprisingly short trek to the edge of the forest. After looking at the tree stump for a few moments York begins to list information.

“Cut with a dull blade, no technology involved. Done about five years ago, oak tree, only around twenty years, fell towards the clearing so it was taken East.”

He nods and blinks away the information, opting to just hold his helmet in his hand along with everyone but Grif, who keeps his on.

“There are definitely people here, this is a man made clearing,” Simmons says, sounding almost annoyed. However when Carolina glances at the scientist, it’s concern that marrs his expression.

Carolina looks in the direction Wash had gone, feeling worry grip her chest.

 

* * *

 Tucker realizes that trying to walk through the night was a big mistake after he trips over a tree root and nearly stabs himself with his sword. After that traumatic experience, he decides to just stay where he is, hidden in the trees, and just wait for morning.

Only a few hours later he begins to see the beginnings of light filtering through the trees, which is surprising but encourages him to get moving and try to find some sort of signal.

Hopefully he won’t be stuck stranded here for too long. Logically they have some way to find him. Maybe they can follow the comm signal or something.

A beep from his helmet startles him, but he realizes it’s because the channel he’d tried to use had failed. Oh well.

Before he can really regain his wits, footsteps catch his attention, crunching loudly and quickly through the underbrush. He doesn’t even have time to reach for his gun as the person emerge from the trees in front of him.

“Fucking- Wash you scared the shit out of me,” Tucker breaths as he drops his hand from his gun. Washington tilts his head in confusion.

“I thought I was being loud enough, surely you heard me,” He states, sounding confused.

“And the urge to hug you for finding me is fading,” Tucker replies, falsely cheery.

Washington rolls his eyes, but just motions for Tucker to follow him. “Well the ship is back this way. Mind explaining what happened?”

Tucker knew that was coming, he begins to talk as he follows Wash, “So these fuckers kidnapped me, and while you guys were running around yelling for me they said they were ‘planning my death’ or some bullshit. Then they knocked me out and I woke up here.”

Wash nods, but doesn’t say anything yet, after a few more steps he pauses. He turns back to Tucker and takes off his helmet, a frown on his face. He inspects the outside of his grey helmet, “I just lost signal, did that happen to you?”

Tucker snorts, “I haven’t had signal since I got here, why do you think I haven’t responded?”

Wash shakes his head, now looking concerned, “We’ve had signal the entire time here, but right when I was about to tell Carolina I found you, it cut out.”

Tucker shrugs, not really caring or thinking about how that could be significant, “Oh yeah, what happened after I was kidnapped? Weren’t you attacked or something?”

“Yeah those guys showed up again, but we got away before they could really attack us,” Wash says absentmindedly, still looking at his helmet like there was something wrong with it.

“That’s great...so how did you guys know that you didn’t leave me there?” Tucker asks, a combination of interested and annoyed.

Wash looks up, almost sheepish, “Well, we didn’t, Carolina refused to endanger the rest of us, and she said she had a hunch that you weren’t there.”

“What if she’d been wrong?” Tucker inquires after a few seconds of pondering.

“She’s rarely wrong, and if she had been, we would’ve gone back for you,” Washington replies cooly, a blank stare being directed at the idiot in front of him.

“But still that was risky! It was pure coincidence that I was here!” Tucker exclaims, shocked.

Wash meets his gaze with a glare, “She’s almost never wrong, we trust her with our lives every day, so that decision wasn’t any different.”

“Oh fuck off,” Tucker snarls, “That’s not a good reason.”

The freelancer takes a few threatening steps forward, almost invading Tucker’s personal space, he could hit him if he wanted to. “Carolina wasn’t just leaving you behind, ungrateful bastard, she would’ve gone back for you if you were still there, you should probably respect the person that saved your ass.”

Tucker opens his mouth to snap out another reply before Wash suddenly goes tense, glancing around hurriedly and waves his hand to hush him.  

“Wha-?” Tucker begins to ask, just as Wash covers his mouth with his hand and looks around them warily.

“It’s gone quiet,” Wash murmurs in such a low voice that Tucker almost doesn’t catch it. Once he registers what Wash said, he listens and hears that the strange birds sitting in the trees had fallen silent, even the leaves moving didn’t rustle.

Wash removes his hand from Tuckers mouth and reaches for his gun with slow movements, but before he can even wrap his hand around the handle, a burst of movement from the trees makes them both jump.

“Tucker get down!” Wash yells, pushing roughly against Tucker’s shoulder hard enough to get him to stumble to the side before falling.

A gunshot echoes and Tucker scrambles to his feet only to see Wash reach for his shoulder with a shocked expression.

“Wash!”

The man’s eyes widen, looking behind Tucker, “Tucker move-!” He cuts himself off with a choked scream, which makes Tucker pale and run towards him instead of away. Tucker ignores the splattering of blood that lands on his hands as he catches Wash from falling completely to the ground.

His shoulder looks like it’d been ripped apart, the hand that’d been covering his shoulder too, but it was just one bullet!

Footsteps make him glance up, and meet gazes with a helmeted man. The details on the stranger’s helmet blur as he feels white hot pain spread through his torso, making him gasp. He tries to reach for his gun, still able to move, until the bullet explodes.

Tucker realizes now why Washington screamed like that.

* * *

Carolina is on high alert as they pass through the forest, searching for any signs of people living there. She knew that it would be too easy to find an abandoned planet.

A curse from Simmons makes her turn with a blade in hand, “What?”

“Signal is lost,” Simmons says grimly. Carolina glares and straightens from her more crouched position.

“What’s so bad about-?” She begins to say hotly, before a beep echoes from her helmet.

“What the fuck does this mean?” Grif asks in confusion, sounding annoyed. Carolina and York glance at each other before slipping the helmets over their heads.

The visor darkens before displaying a message: SIGNAL LOST. CHORUS CHANNEL OPEN.

“Chorus?” York says, a frown obvious in his tone.

“Simmons?” Carolina asks.

“It’s an encrypted channel, we couldn’t access it if we wanted to,” The scientist grumbles, tapping at his laptop, “Our signal has been blocked off, we won’t be able to access it until we’re out of the atmosphere.”

Carolina pales, “We can’t contact anyone right now?”

Simmons looks up at her, frowning at her worried tone, “I can get a channel for us, don’t worry.”

After a few tense seconds of Carolina intently looking around, another message is displayed on the visor.

ARTIFICIAL CHANNEL. ACCEPT?

She can see the crew members joined in the channel, except…

“Tucker and Washington aren’t in the channel.”

“Maybe they aren’t paying attention to their helmets?” York offers in suggestion.

“It’ll automatically accept in a few more seconds, I programmed it that way,” Simmons says boredly. Just as he said, Carolina sees their names become highlighted.

“But the question is, why didn’t they accept?” Grif says, sounding like he was smirking.

“They’re probably making out,” York jokes, “Go Wash.”

“No, I think we should try to find them,” Carolina says after a few moments. Two attempts at contacting them has failed. Her serious tone makes them all nervous, but they listen to her nonetheless.

“I have Tucker’s last coordinates,” Carolina begins by saying, before she opens the new channel, “We’re changing routes, we’re going to get Tucker and Wash, you guys loop back.”

“Alright Captain, but we have found a few things you might want to see,” CT answers.

“After we find Tucker and Wash,” Carolina promises before closing the channel. They walk quietly through the underbrush, still on the lookout for anything unusual, but now more focused on looking for their friends.

Carolina notices that things are quieter the further they go, making her increasingly more cautious as their footsteps become more obvious.

“He was here last,” She says after stopping. The other three stop behind her and look around warily. York suddenly takes a step forward, gun in hand and raising as he cautiously takes another step. Carolina copies his movements, drawing out her weapon and walking parallel through the trees, which open into a clearing they’d managed to miss.

Her eyes widen as she tries to take the situation in.

* * *

“Wash! Tucker!”

Tucker is aware of the voice but can’t gather together enough energy to respond. The fact that there's a paralyzingly sharp pain in his side doesn’t help matters. His consciousness fades out as the nearby voices fade back to murmurs. Someone is kneeling beside him, and he can only tell because they’re carefully pulling back his bloodied (favorite goddamnit) jacket.

The words blur together but he can catch “-the bullets fragmented-” before fading out again.

* * *

York tries to be careful while carrying Tucker, but he knows it’s impossible to avoid hurting him. Carolina is helping Wash, who was conscious enough to mumble about an ambush and is able to walk somewhat on his own.

It doesn’t last. Once they were in view of the AI, Wash slumps, almost falling if Carolina hadn’t stopped him with a string of curses. CT’s group is waiting in front of the AI, and it’s North who runs forward to help Carolina with Wash.

“What happened?” He asks, glancing at Tucker, who’s yet to show any sign of consciousness, before looking at Wash.

“Wash mumbled something about an ambush, we’re really not sure,” Carolina says grimly.

North’s expression darkens, “That coincides with what we have to show you, it’s-” He gets cut off when York makes a panicked noise. He’d put Tucker down at some point, and they realize why. Tucker’s conscious, eyes wide with pain as he coughs blood and bile into the grass. The blood dripping from the wound in his torso darkens the green blades beneath him.

“Shit!” Carolina curses, handing Wash off to North to crouch in front of Tucker.

“Fucking ow-” Tucker coughs out in between his retching. A few feet away, Wash suddenly doubles over, pulling away from North to stumble to a tree, supporting himself on it to cough up blood.

“What the- York the bullets, would they have been poisoned or something?!” Carolina asks frantically, glancing between the two.

“It’s possible? I don’t know! I can’t tell!” York replies.

“Well they’re going to hurt themselves worse at this rate!” Simmons yells, looking at Carolina.

The Captain looks at Simmons with a glare, but recognizes the knowing look in his eyes, this was their best option. She looks at York, then tilts her head to Tucker, watching as her co-captain ruthlessly snaps a kick into the side of his head.  
She then goes over to Wash, lashing out with a punch that catches him in the side of his head, and watches him crumple unconscious to the ground.


End file.
